La Cosa Nostra
by Hersheys Rocks
Summary: Au. 'Why don't you fear me' Fear? What did it matter? She was going to die anyway, like all the other hostages of La Cosa Nostra...
1. Beautiful Destruction

**Corleon, Sicily**

**Modern Day**

He swayed on his feet slightly, staring at the man before him in terror. A tall, leanly built man with messy bronze hair. The reappearing form of horror in his life, the youngest Don... Don Cullen.

"You have not paid your protection this year" his voice was flat, yet beautiful. This being did not have a single fault, other then his affiliations.

"Please, I'm broke. My business is barely getting my daughter and me by" Charlie pleaded, hoping that there was some sort of remorse within the man that lay before him.

Golden eyebrows rose slightly. "Daughter?"

Charlie's eyes widened, knowing he was caught. Don Cullen swaggered slightly around him, taking the small bakery fully in. It was run down, repairs were needed, but it was acceptable to eat in. Smells of different foods filled the room, assortments of the originators of the smells sitting behind glass.

The Don's hand rested on the knob to the only door out of the room other then the front. Ripping the door open, a screech came from the bedroom behind.

A smirk came upon his face. Moving swiftly now, he grabbed the brunette and held his gun to her head. She struggled, wrists locked together. Her eyes widened as the safety clicked. "Now who's this pretty lady?" It was a sneer, with a smirk adorning his face.

Perfect, beautiful.

"Please, don't hurt her!" Charlie's voice echoed through the small room as he hurried in.

"That's what the protection is for..." he murmured, still staring into her eyes. She stared back, horrified. Tears quickly formed in the corners of her eyes, glazing over her eyes as the water spread outwards.

"I don't have the money to pay you, please!" Charlie's voice became more and more feeble as he continued, sobs consuming him.

"You still have not told me this little lady's name" Don Cullen mumbled lightly, emerald orbs entrancing his hostage. The safety clicked again. "Isabella Swan" her voice came out in a hoarse whisper, seemingly rushed.

Her eyes remained locked with his as a cruel smile spread across his face. "Well... Bella? You are now the new hostage of _La Cosa Nostra_..."

_La Cosa Nostra_

_Yakuza_

_The Mafia_

_The name may always be different, but their intent is the same. A hostage is always put to death in the end..._


	2. Blinking Reality

The room was dark, a slight smell of mold bothering her. Beneath her, the chair was hard and rocking slightly as she attempted to shift her weight. Thick ropes dug that bound her to the wooden chair dug into her skin. Her mouth had long become dry from the same ropes that were wrapped around her mouth.

It was horrible, yet she was revering her luck. Being kidnapped meant that she could live longer, no matter how horrible her current existence was. Anything in the end, it was better then death for her.

The sound of the door opening and closing echoed through the room, alerting her of another presence. Instantly, fear washed through her. The ropes around her mouth were harshly ripped off, probably leaving burn marks. A small clattering of tin on metal sounded, the light blinking on above her.

Don Cullen stood tall, emerald orbs boring fiercely within hers. A fork came up from her line of vision into her mouth. Without thinking anything of it, she swallowed. The food was horrible, but then again, it was at least food. Any food at all was better then starving, no matter how bad.

The process of food being shoved within the confines of her mouth and swallowing continued on for some time, until she reasoned the food disappeared.

"You are amazingly cooperative..." he mumbled, awed slightly.

She blinked, was she just given the right to talk? Hoping that it was acceptable, she dared to respond. "Being uncooperative would only speed up things I wish to avoid" her voice was quiet and hoarse, showing the obvious signs of her dry throat. The edge of a glass was shoved onto her bottom lip. She hungrily gulped down the water, letting it ignite the burn that her ripped throat had caused.

"So, you are smart"

"Not necessarily, just resigned to my fate..."

"Ah, hopeless because your father will never be able to get the money or because you know that hostages never come back alive?"

"Both"

He nodded, a smirk haunting his lips. "Yes, you are smarter then the rest"

The light blinked out and the door shut. It took her a moment to realize that he had somehow replaced the ropes to their former place around her mouth.

_Intelligence and common sense are different, yet the same; they came both save you from death._


	3. Fearless Insanity

The phone shook within the hold of her hands. "Why?" she choked out between sobs, "Why didn't you ask me for the money? Phil and I could've helped you out..."

"Renee" Two voices said in unison from both sides of the phone line. Arms encircled her, a nose rubbing itself gently on her neck. "Everything will be alright" he breathed.

"No it won't!" Renee screeched. "My daughter has been taken by the MAFIA because one idiot man was more worried about his pride. Now the other idiot man in my life is telling me it'll be alright?! She'll be killed whether he pays protection or not now!!"

Both men flinched, "Renee, I'm sorry. I didn't think about asking you..." Charlie's voice was sincere and broken. "I'll get the money though, and she'll be fine"

The phone slid out of Renee's hand into Phil's. "Charlie, we'll give you the money"

"No!" Charlie shot back instantly, "I must get it myself! It's my fault she was taken, so I must deal with it myself..."

Phil, being a fellow man, knew why Charlie was so desperate. He was trying to redeem himself. "Okay... I understand..."

But redeeming oneself is harder then it seems.

------------------

The food lingered in her mouth for a second, being less forced then it had in the last few days. It tasted better, mainly because she had grown accustomed to the horridness of it.

"Bella... why do you not fear me?"

She blinked, cocking her head to the side. "How did you know I like to be called Bella?"

He shook his head. "Isabella doesn't fit you as well, I could just tell"

Small talk seemed to become increasingly common over the last few days too. Another spoonful was gently placed inside her mouth, and she chewed and swallowed.

"I don't fear you... because you don't seem to want me to fear you"

He blinked, utter shock written across his face. The spoon clattered on the tin plate as he bolted up. The light went out, and the door opened and shut.

The binds of her mouth were still untied.

_Fear is a state of mind which can easily be interrupted otherwise..._


	4. Willing Death

**This idea has been bothering me more then any other idea ever has, it stalking me all the way into my dreams T.T And zomfg... I was looking at someone's profile and saw that they had me on there favorites authors list... and next to my name in parenthesis was the number forty one... it took me a moment to realize that was how many stories I've written O.o My god, what's wrong with me?! T.T**

**BTW!!!!!! It was brought to my attention that I put complete on the story on accident!! T.T I didn't mean to... really, please believe me T.T wahhhh... anywayz, no this story ain't over... not even close**

**Disclaimer: If I told you I bought Twilight on Ebay, would you believe me?**

The next time it was someone different, a small woman. She danced around in the light of the single bulb that hung from the ceiling as she gathered everything she wanted. Her black hair spiked somewhat outward from the shortness.

Looking up, onyx locked with chestnut. A smile spread across her face as her graceful steps led her over to Bella, stool in her hands. "I'm Alice Cullen"

Bella nodded uncertainly.

"Edward's younger sister"

She blinked this time in confusion, making Alice giggle. "I mean '_Don Cullen_', but I like to refer to him by his first name... it doesn't seem as stupid, no?"

Nodding, Bella let this information seep in. 'Edward' she let it connect the mental image to the word, the emerald eyes came to mind somehow. Fighting back a blush, she looked upward toward Alice in question.

She giggled once again and swung the spoon inches from Bella's nose, food adorning it. "Say 'ahh'"

Bella obliged, opening her mouth. In an extremely graceful swoop, the food was placed within her mouth and she found herself chewing it.

"Do you ever wonder where you are?"

Bella mewled over the question for a moment before responding. "Among other things, yes"

She giggled, still smiling. The spoon tapped Bella's cheek as Alice spoke. "You're in a house, a normal house. The basement to be exact"

Bella didn't know how to respond, she expected it really. This confused Alice though. "You expected this?" her head cocked to the side in confusion.

Nodding, she explained. "My father used to be in the police force. He was forced to leave the job because they found he was paying protection to the mafia..." Gulping slightly, she found the will to continue. "Also, everyone here in Corleone knows of La Cosa Nostra and their ways... they just refuse to acknowledge it..."

Alice smiled, giggling. "A well educated girl you are"

The rest of the time she was in there, Alice used to feed Bella.

Standing up, she gracefully strode out. Her hand rested on the door knob, before she turned around to face the darkness.

"If you keep being so... _willing_... you may be able to live..."

"Thank you" Bella whispered as the door shut quickly.

_Certain actions are like a savior coming to rescue you..._


	5. Forgotten Movements

The bodies moved around him, but the main one in front of him focused intently on him. Charlie smiled weakly towards the boy with bleached hair, messily spiked up in random directions. In a way it seemed to be an attempted copy of Don Cullen's hair. Small scale jealousy of the real thing.

"As you know, I'm Michael Newton. So," his eyes flickered down to the sheet held within his hands, "Charles Swan... you want to help us?"

Charlie nodded quickly, an eager smile plastered upon his face. Mike's face fell slightly, "You are rather old to help out in a drug business like this..."

"I don't care, I need money fast..."

Mike eyed him momentarily before cracking into a grin. "Protection, eh?"

Charlie's eye flickered with a strange emotion Mike couldn't quite place. "Like it..."

"Eh, you should be lucky you ain't dealing with the Yakuza. Your daughter would be in a brothel in the blink of an eye!" He chuckled at some unknown joke, "Ya know, sometimes I wished we were like the Yakuza"

A wink was enough to completely disgust Charlie, but only so many get rich quick schemes worked. This was one of the few: illegal drug dealing.

"Okay, listen up. Tyler, Eric and Lauren are going to go with ya. Your job is to get the exchange from our other workers" Mike handed Charlie some assorted papers, pointing at several important highlights on each. "This is the route you should take, here is the exchange point. Also, here's the route back."

Charlie blinked, confused. "Route back? Why's it not the same as the first one?"

Mike laughed, something catching his filthy sense of humor. "You never use the same path to leave as you used to enter. It's a common sense rule of the military and La Cosa Nostra! Our small scale organization recognizes the necessities of this technique"

He continued upon seeing the confused look on Charlie's face. "The police, what if they were following you. Instead of directly going to attack, because of body guards and such, they set up a barricade and call for backup. When you turn around to go back to the hideout, there's that barricade!" He laughed at the look of understanding dawning on Charlie's face, "We avoid bad situations by using different routes..."

Charlie nodded, reviewing the maps. "Okay, I'll get this done..."

------------------------

Alice shifted her weight from one foot to the other repeatedly. The sound of water turning off and on from the door behind her caused her to push herself off the wall. "Alice..." the weak voice called from the other side.

"Yes?" she chimed.

"Can I take a shower? It's been... two weeks?"

Alice giggled at this, "If you're worried about how you smell, let me tell you; you smell a lot better then some of the people who take showers everyday!"

"No... I don't feel..." Bella cut off, not sure how to express her thoughts.

Alice glided as she walked, gathering things for a bath. Bella's head perked up as she heard the door shut and the lock click. Alice grinned, holding multiple self cleaning supplies and a few towels.

"Okay, now strip"

------------------------

Charlie's fingers fumbled with the gun slightly, anxiety racing through him. "Ya know how to work that thing... right?" The boy next to him questioned.

"Yes, Tyler. I was in the police force at one time"

A smile played on Tyler's lips, "Got caught for giving protection?"

"Yes" Charlie clicked the safety, holding it up to eye level. "The sights aren't too bad"

"We want to live" Tyler said offhandedly.

Charlie continued his small examination, turning it within his line of vision. "How likely is it to get jammed?"

"Extremely unlikely"

A smirk curled his lips upwards, "Perfect"

---------------------------

Bella clutched the towel closely to her body, watering dripping onto the off white tiles. Alice giggled, dancing out of the bathroom. "Stay there, I'm going to get clothes"

Nodding, she sat on the toilet seat to wait. Alice, though, stopped dead in the doorway, turning back around to look cautiously at Bella.

"You won't try to...leave... will you?"

Bella blinked, "No... That'd be stupid. A complete waste of time, most likely embarrassing and slightly painful..."

Alice nodded, the usual spark of life in her eyes turning a duller shade. "Yes... it would be a waste of a lot of time, more then you think. Painful is right too, but I don't think you would care about embarrassment in the end..."

Discomfort began to strangle the atmosphere around them. "I'll be a good girl; you get me some clothes, please?"

A smile graced Alice's lips once again as she nodded enthusiastically. "Yes ma'am!" she danced out of the room, giggling all the way.

---------------------------

The job was easy so far, all he had to do was sit next to Tyler in the front while Eric and Lauren dealt with their 'associates'. The back doors of the van slammed shut, most likely because of Lauren's impatience to get paid. The doors directly behind Tyler's and his slid open, letting Eric and Lauren entrance.

"Tyler, Hun, let's get going now" Lauren mumbled, traces of annoyance lacing her words.

"Yes, that would be nice" Eric added in a monotone as he adjusted his glasses. Tyler grinned boyishly and started the car, driving off.

As they arrived back, Mike's body emerged from the large door of the warehouse, guiding them inwards.

Mike came to meet Charlie as multiple stronger men unloaded the back of the van. "Everything go alright?"

Charlie nodded, making Mike grin. "Good, then it looks like you got a new job"

The smirk once again curled the edges of his lips upwards.

_A goal can be forgotten once in the heat of the battle..._


	6. Lifeless Nights

**Hmmm... I've been wondering. In a one on one competition of 'hottness', who would win? Uchiha Sasuke (yes, the god himself ladies, with rabid fangirls chasing him, a dark past, strong and the whole 'tall dark and handsome' thing going on) or Edward Cullen (Sasuke's parallel with less of the dark part to him)... really, I want to know...**

**I've also been wondering why all Edwards (Edward Cullen and Edward Elric) have gold eyes... it's strange... did Stephanie Meyer read FMA?**

**And my thought process continues on forever as I sneak a peek at the people who have me on author's alert... It's so bizarre, twilight people have me on author's alert -.-' seriously, that ain't the smartest idea... but also... the people who read my other fics, like Fma and Naruto... I'm probably pissing them off if they haven't read Twilight... -shoots self in head- ...must finish Sarah Yellin songfic...**

**Lol, anywayz! Here's the story, now that you've read my memoires of the past few days... (btw, I have no idea wha memoires means...)**

Alice's eyes flickered with knowledge as Edward stared at her. He nodded, turning away. "Good, she should be properly taken care of"

Alice giggled at Edward's monotone. Somehow he was able to tell what people were thinking, like how she knew what someone was going to do. It was something subliminal which made them perfect for this business.

"Can you tell what she's thinking? I would like to know"

Edward stiffened, stopping dead in his tracks. "No... No, I can't tell..."

"Then she is truly a strange individual"

Edward nodded before disappearing. Alice danced onward towards the basement's entrance.

------------------

"The pizzini?" Lauren's hand made a 'gimme' motion towards Michael.

Mike smirked, waving the piece of paper in a taunting manner before her. "Be patient my dear friend"

A growl ripped through her throat as she crossed her arms. Her glare bore into the side of his head as he read it off to them. Tyler's arm wrapped around her waist in an almost vain hope to calm her.

"It's a simple mission, got it? No different then usual; get the goods and go" They all nodded, so he continued. "Good, hurry back too..."

-------------------

Alice pulled a couch to the center of the room as Bella pulled loose plaid pants onto herself. "Pajamas?"

"It'll be what you're most comfortable in" she muttered lightly, pulling soft blankets over the back of the couch. "You know where everything is, I'll be back to feed you later. Be a good girl!" Alice danced up and kissed her on the cheek before prancing off.

Bella blinked, looking up at the light bulb that swayed slightly.

------------------

"This is unlike you, Edward" Aro's voice held a taunt to it, making Edward's eyebrow twitch slightly. "It was... necessary..."

Aro chuckled, "Really? Don't you usually just kill them?" Edward stiffened at this accusation, "It's not necessary to take hostages... _usually_" The words slipped off his tongue.

Edward was smarter then to try and snap back at him, even though he knew it would most likely entertain Aro. Aro was, after all, the Godfather of the Godfathers. Even though Edward was 'Don Cullen', Aro was the ultimate head of all of the mafias around the world.

"Where's Caius?" he mumbled lightly.

"This isn't like you, Edward. Taking hostages, changing the subject..." he chuckled, "most unlike you"

Edward's lips twitched downward. "I was just... curious"

Aro chuckled, "You know him. He called last from the red light zone in Hiroshima Prefecture"

Edward turned, leaving. He was always uninterested in the others, himself being his main concern. "I like this new you Edward..."

_Patience is supposedly a virtue... but could it not become a vice?_


	7. Disintegrating Fate

**Well, the results of the hottness contest is as follows (from my short conversation with Kute Anime Kitty) Edward is hotter then Sasuke (from Naruto), but Edward isn't as hot as Edward Elric (from Fullmetal Alchemist). Also, a fight between Edward and Edward would be awesome to see, yes, Alchemy versus Vampire... really, I think Envy should go against Edward so it'd be Humonculi vs Vampire, no humans in the mix, only immortals...**

**Haha, but still, I think Reno (from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children) is hotter then all of them, and Train Heartnet (from Black Cat) pwns all and is a total cutie . haha, I sound like a freak, don't I?**

Her stiff body jolted slightly as she pushed it upwards. The blankets slid off of her head, revealing her disheveled self to the light. A blurry figure stood over her, silhouetted. She squinted, trying to see through her sleepy daze. Shifting, she blinked.

"Heh, good morning to you too" the silhouette mumbled, moving her legs slightly so he could sit down. "Edward?" she whispered, her voice hoarse and scratchy.

A nod and her vision slowly doubled. The two Edwards moved away from each other without actually moving. Seemingly floating, they came together to form one perfect god. The one before her.

His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "How do you know my name?" She blinked in response, then gasped. "Ah, I'm so s--"

He cut her off, smirking. "It's fine, Alice told you, didn't she?"

Bella nodded, mouth now covered by his hand. His hand slowly dropped from her face, going to the food in his lap. Picking up some on the fork, he popped it into her mouth that was open in slight awe.

She gasped slightly, swallowing it without chewing.

"Good girl" he mumbled.

---------------------

A bullet whizzed past Lauren's face, grazing her cheek. She gasped, flinching backwards as blood dripped from the small wound it caused. A man approached her and Eric, chuckling darkly.

"I am James of La Cosa Nostra"

They all froze as the sentence left his mouth. A woman with fiery red hair came up, latching herself upon his arm that wasn't holding the gun. A sinister sneer came upon her face, making Lauren scowl, despite her shaking. Eric's eyes darted continuously from the pair in front of them to the hole in the back of the truck.

Charlie fumbled with the magazine, loading his gun cautiously. He held it up quickly at eye level, hiding behind the corner of the truck. Looking with precision through the sights, he fired.

The sound of the safety clicking off, and the trigger being pulled resounded through the still, frantic air. This caught James's attention, causing him to turn to a now horror struck Charlie.

He stared wide eyed at the gun. 'The magazine' his voice was ragged, tearing at the walls of his mind. 'I loaded the magazine wrong'

It jammed.

His eyes darted up towards James to see him smirking.

_A jammed gun... Timing is everything..._


	8. Distilled Potraits

**Oh my, I'm evil aren't I? I actually managed to write a cliffhanger for once XP Lol, here you guys go!**

**Btw, I just found the perfect person to play Rosalie, even if she isn't blond... Koda Kumi, my god, she's perfect -shudders- Namie Amuro might be good too...**

James raised his gun in almost slow motion, smirking sadistically all the while.

Charlie fumbled with the gun in a complete panic, trying to free the magazine. It was completely jammed, magazine in all, causing more to the distress filling the air.

The gun shot and Charlie's body froze, flying backwards slightly. He hit the pavement, body twitching slightly. A large hole was situated right between the eyes, blood seeping across the cement.

Lauren shrieked in horror, backing away quickly. Victoria smiled, pointing towards her. James's gun rounded on Lauren and the shot was fired. Blood spilled out of her mouth, dripping on the pavement. She fell backwards, blood seeping through from her shirt. Her dilated eyes looked at him in a daze as she fell.

Eric backed away too before finally turning and running to the front of the truck where Tyler was holding open the driver's side door for him to rush in. It took seconds for James to fire another two rounds, draining his magazine. Tyler and Eric fell, blood seeping from them too onto the tainted ground.

"What a wonderful job you did, honey" Victoria mumbled, kissing his cheek.

---------------

A blond maneuvered her way through the crowds of people, glimpsing at the bloody scene before them. She brushed a golden curl out of her deep sea blue eyes in order to get a proper view.

Her mind cataloged the information. Four dead. One shot through head, gun not far from hand. One woman, backing away. Two men, shot from behind while loading into car.

Raising her cell phone, it clicked a picture noiselessly.

'Perfect' she thought, lips stretching into a slight smile.

Turning around a corner, she came face to face with another blond. He was a tall man, towering over her slightly. His hair wasn't short, but it wasn't long either, done in a messy fashion too. Blue eyes examined her slightly in interest. A tall woman stood beside him, her long dark hair and dark eyes making her blend well with the surrounding alley.

"Jasper, Angela... what's the news?" Rosalie asked in a bored tone.

Jasper shifted on his feet, looking at his younger, yet twin, sister. "Angela's got a pizzini"

Rosalie's gaze shifted from her brother to Angela. She nodded to confirm this, "It's true Miss Hale..."

"What's it say?" she murmured, her voice still holding boredom. Angela's eyes looked into Jasper's for a cue, he nodded to her smiling. Rosalie bit back a scoff at how calming Jasper's presence could be, it was --only in her opinion, it seemed-- a stupid talent.

"Don Cullen wants you to report to him your findings" Angela mumbled quietly, holding the paper out to Rosalie.

Rosalie, in turn, rolled her eyes.

------------------

Alice raced towards them, unknown grace still flowing through her every movement. Jasper caught her within his arms as she buried her face in his chest. The height difference was amazing, seeing as Jasper was probably two and a half heads taller then her.

Rosalie rolled her eyes again, walking past her two siblings. "Where's the brat?" She asked loudly so that anyone within the entrance hall of the house could hear.

"Oh!" Alice squealed slightly, barely breaking Jasper's embrace. "He's taking care of a hostage right now; he'll be up in a minute!"

Rosalie's eyes narrowed at her for a moment before turning back around to face the adjacent wall. "Hmmm..." she murmured in a slightly dazed tone, "Where's Emmett?"

Alice giggled at this.

_Love is a matter of belief... Do you believe you love him?_


	9. Loveless Angel

**Thirty three reviews!! -squeals- I love you guys!! (I know, most people are going 'Yes, I hit a hundred' but I'm truly amazed from past experience when writing to get over two) **

**And I got a Beta (yes, I'm sitting here thinking 'Oh my god', never saw this coming...) Cheetah Eyes !! She volunteered herself (never would've gotten a Beta otherwise XD) and I'm thankful for that!**

She seated herself across the table from him, her younger brother in law. His forest green eyes penetrated her lake side orbs. "Your findings?" he inquired in a flat monotone.

Rosalie's eyes narrowed slightly as her lips curved up in a smile. "Why, of course, my dear brother." Venom dripped off her words as each syllable slipped off her tongue in a way that would mesmerize any other human.

Edward's lips twitched done into a frown as she continued.

"There were four dead. All of them were employees of Michael Newton, ex boyfriend of Jessica Stanley. You know Jessica, right? She's one of James's lackeys..." Edward nodded, flinching slightly at memories of the obnoxious girl.

"Well, they broke up because Mike told her to watch her weight. Jessica decided to get back at him by telling James's of his little drug route, which was actually competing with James. From there on out, it was in his hands and he decided to act."

Edward nodded, understanding completely, being a Don himself. "So, the men were lackeys of Michael then?"

"Yes. Well, actually, there were four men and one woman. Two of them, identified by the names Tyler and Eric, were trying to drive away when they got shot. The woman, Lauren I believe, was starting to back away slowly. The final one was the most important. He was the guard, Charlie Swan, and he was shot after his gun jammed."

Edward stiffened slightly in recognition of the name.

Rosalie shrugged, not noticing Edward in the slightest. "Just shows you that you have to take proper care of your gun. You have to clean it and load it properly," she mumbled, eyes focusing elsewhere.

"Thank you Rose, that's all I need to know..."

With one final smile, she left the room.

-----------

Renee's body shook, slowly collapsing onto her knees. The door bounced off the wall to her side, lightly stopping a few inches away from it.

"N-no." Her voice shook almost as much as her body. Her eyes were dilated and unfocused, staring towards the feet of the man before her.

Phil tried to pick her up, but found she was mainly dead weight at this point as she continued to shake. "Sh, honey, please calm down..." He tried to sooth her, gently rubbing circles on the small of her back. Even with his tries, she remained unresponsive.

Her body shuddered with little fluctuation, making them both think her bones might shatter in the strain. "No..." she whispered again in her ragged voice. Tears streamed down her cheeks, leaving trails of bright pink in their wake.

"NO!" Renee screamed, hands going up to cover her ears.

Breaking out of Phil's half embrace, she curled up with her head to the floor.

"No... No... No," she whispered repeatedly, voice shaking horribly.

"Renee... honey?"

"Trauma," the police officer choked out, tears forming in his eyes. "I've seen it before, when dealing with mafia victim's families. Trauma is common, really..."

Phil's eyes narrowed at the ground that now separated him and Renee, arms still held out towards her.

"Life here is horrible, isn't it?"

"No...No...No..." her whispers turned to pleads, disrupted only slightly by her sobs.

"I guess it is..."

_Trauma... Anything can traumatize someone really... It is only a matter of time in Corleon..._


	10. Rightly Wrong

She blinked, looking disbelievingly at the man before her.

"Don Cullen, sir, you must be mistaken..."

His eyebrows furrowed slightly; how could she not get it?

"No, I am not mistaken in the slightest." He breathed outwards, frustrated by her ignorance.

"Yes... I'm sorry Don Cullen, sir, but you are obviously mistaken."

"About what?"

"Charlie would never join an illegal drug circle of any sorts..."

He was slightly taken aback by her use of her father's first name, but got over it quickly, before she could notice. "Tha--"

She cut him off. "Let me finish, sir. Charlie, as I informed Alice, was part of the police force. He would never become involved in anything illegal! So, therefore, he could not have been killed in effect of being involved in such events."

His lips twitched up in entertainment as understanding washed over him. He couldn't help but note how cute she looked when she pouted like that, huffing slightly. This only made his lips twitch up more.

One of Bella's eyes popped open suddenly, eyeing him suspiciously. "What are you smiling at?!" she snapped, huffing more.

Biting down his lip to not laugh, he just stared in amusement at her. Really, she was quite brave. Bravery wasn't something that was common in dealing with La Cosa Nostra.

"You had better not be laughing at me, mister! Because let me tell you, even though you are the almighty," she made odd hand movements as she spoke, making him think that she was just absolutely adorable, "youngest Don in the history of Don, Godfather people, doesn't mean I fear you! Let me tell you, I don't fear you one bit! Rather, I think you are just some wise ass who's got a lot of money and connections, with a little bit of sadism mixed in!"

He couldn't help it - she was just so cute. The chuckle that escaped his mouth set him into a fury of laughs till he was holding his sides, leaning on the couch for support.

"You are laughing at me!!" she screeched in distaste.

Wiping away a single tear from his eye, he smiled brightly at her. "You're just so cute when you do that."

Bella's complaining stopped instantly. Blinking a few times, her lips twitched up into a smile.

"So... you were doing this for a reaction? This stupid joke?"

Edward froze at the assumption. His eyebrows furrowed, frown lines becoming apparent on his face.

"Drastic times call for drastic measures," he spat spitefully.

Bella cocked her head to the side. Edward resisted the urge to sneer at her; she was just so ignorant. 'Or innocent,' the back of his mind chimed in.

"You were so bored that it was drastic to mess with your poor hostage's head?" she chimed. The manner was extremely innocent, he noted.

"No... You're father was desperate to get you back. Therefore, he resorted to quick ways of money making."

She gasped, tears welling up in her eyes. For a few moments, her mouth opened and closed like she was trying to speak. After a minute or so, a choked sob escaped her lips.

"No," she muttered with the sob.

His hand slowly moved towards her, patting her on the head. A sad smile etched itself onto his lips.

"At least... you know he loved you."

"You'll kill me now, won't you?"

He froze, realizing she wasn't as innocent as he suspected.

_'No,' my mind screamed out. 'No, don't prove her right...' _

_Yes, I always had to be the one who was right. _


	11. KieuserU NaI RaibU

**Disclaimer: Ohayo, minna-sama, Stephenie Meyer-sensei jika Higure . Watashiwa iie jika!**

**Yes, right now you're wondering how much weirder can this girl get, trust me, I can be even weirder...**

**Eh, I've been wondering lately... does Twilight have any c2's? I guess I'm just too used to the sasuxsaku shrine practically... molesting... my fics... gah, they like me a little too much -.-'**

**ZOMG!!! I was listening to the radio the other day (yes, I know, for some _strange_ reason, my mom likes to listen to it in the car) and some song started playing and they were all like 'You can't always get what you want' and that is a total IN YOUR FACE EDWARD CULLEN!!! Haha... maybe I should stop talking, ne?**

Caius moved slowly through the mansion, inspecting things as he went. "Welcome back."

"Mm" Caius mumbled in recognition to Aro.

"Have fun in the red light zone?"

"Aa... Mari-chan was a little rebellious this time." His eyes connected with Aro's, lips twisting upwards into a grin. "Did you rearrange the place a little?"

Aro grinned widely, chuckling slightly. "You noticed!"

Caius nodded. "Now only if you added a few whores..."

Aro's grin quickly dropped at the comment. "I will do no such thing!" he sniffed indignantly. "If you feel so strong on the subject, bring your precious 'Mari-chan' or 'Suzuki-chan' next time!"

Caius laughed lightly. "Maybe I will." Aro nodded strongly, making Caius chuckle once more. Really, how did such a childish man become the world leader of the mafia?

He followed Aro through the door at the end of the entrance hall of the house, continuing on with their scheduled business.

------

Jessica smiled at James. "Thank you," she murmured.

He turned to look at her, his cold eyes staring intently within hers.

"You're annoying," he muttered lightly. "I don't do personal favors." The gun in his hand rose upwards toward her.

"What?!" she cried, quite alarmed. "Please...please don't!"

He didn't listen, only shot.

------

Alice and Bella stared at each other, trying to read the other's thoughts. "Aro will want to meet her," Alice muttered lightly. Edward shook his head, "No..."

"Yes, he will, I know it!"

"Is this another one of your premonitions?" She nodded, making Bella confused.

"We can't just send her home, can we?"

Bella's head snapped back and forth, looking at each of them in utter confusion. She wanted to know what was going on; she tried to understand... why was she failing?

"No, we can't."

------

Aro examined Caius, a smile gracing his lips.

"Don't you think she'd be interesting to meet?"

"Aa, cover it up though, ne?"

Aro chuckled, nodding. "I shall do that."

Caius looked towards the catlike man in the corner of the room. "Baka, come 'ere." Aro chuckled further as the offending person scrambled towards them.

"Paper, onegai."

He nodded quickly, scurrying off. In a matter of minutes the boy was back, placing a typewriter loaded with paper in front of Aro. They both waited as Aro's fingers flew across the type writer. Chuckling, several papers were clutched in Aro's hands.

"Give those to Angela-chan, baka neko." The catlike boy nodded at Caius, scurrying off.

"You know... I'm starting to think you're sexist..."

"Iie," he replied sarcastically. "Iie."

_Sarcasm, a truth covered with blood... _


	12. Tearstained Memoirs

**Songs that will probably mildly go with the story (I'll probably be adding onto the list as we go, depending on what I'm listening to and what I find next on YouTube -.-')**

**They - Jem**

**Sarah Yellin - 3 Doors Down**

**Going Under - Evanescence (for poor Renee)**

**Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Greenday (for Charlie)**

**Undo - Cool Joke**

**...I want to say some more, but I donno if they'll go with the story all too well... hm... here are some real maybes...**

**Rise - Yoko Kanno**

**One Winged Angel**

**The Nobodies - Marilyn Manson**

**Meant to Live - Switchfoot**

**Away from the Sun - 3 Doors Down**

**There was a request for translations of what Caius is saying... heh heh... didn't think about that -.-' Okay, here ya go, some translations**

**Chapter title (someone wanted to know): Kieuseru nai Raibu Die less Life (please... don't ask...)**

**Aa - Ah, Oh, etc...**

**Chan - suffix used commonly for girls who you are friends/aquaintances with**

**Ne - common thing that's used in fanfiction as an ending/beginning for a sentence... actually means root -.-'**

**Baka - Idiot**

**Onegai - Please**

**Iie - No**

**Neko - Cat**

**Mmmm... so, to conclude this majorly long author's note (I should _so_ not be posting this right now!) I will say: Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza ... Happy New Year and all that other junk that I don't know about cause I know nothing about religion -.-' (I'm still trying to figure out the whole First Testament thingy...)**

"Just let her go," Rosalie mumbled, messing with the curls of her hair. They were all situated at the large table in the dining room currently, having a discussion. Well... some of them were having a discussion. Alice, Rosalie and Edward were discussing Bella's future while Jasper had contented himself with holding Alice and occasionally kissing her neck and shoulders. Emmett was sitting next to Rosalie, scarfing down some food that didn't look the least bit healthy.

"We couldn't possibly do that," Alice announced, pouting slightly. Jasper's arms tightened around her waist in a slightly protective manner.

Rosalie snorted, "And why not? She's under the Omerta."

Edward's eyebrows furrowed at this, which didn't go unnoticed by Rosalie.

"Are you telling me she's not? Because if she isn't, I'll go down there and shoot her now."

Alice shook her head. "Aro has talked to Edward about her..."

"So, Edward, you were stupid enough to go and tell him about this little hostage of ours?"

Emmett chuckled at this, poking Rosalie in the head lightly. "Come on Rose, Aro knows all, remember?" Rosalie scowled, waving her hand at Emmett as he attempted to poke her again. "Stop that Emmett," she whined, which made him instantly stop and begin to apologize.

Sighing, Edward dropped his head to his hands, rubbing his temples. "You all make me sick."

Alice giggled. "Looks like you're a little jealous," Jasper mumbled, smirking.

Edward's head snapped up, sending him a glare that would've frozen a normal man.

"I just state the truth."

"I think we should have her join us," a woman's voice called. They all turned to see Esme standing in the doorway. A certain gleam danced through her chocolate eyes, catching Edward's attention.

"No... This isn't going to be a chance for you to gain another child..."

"But you seem to like her so much if you're going through all this trouble for her. It's unlike you."

Edward growled, "You sound like Aro."

"Edward, don't growl at your mother." Carlisle's voice rang as he too entered through the doorway. He walked in wearing a white coat, announcing that he had just gotten done dealing with a patient.

"Do you not want her to join because you are afraid of the physical pain it'll take to join or the emotional stress afterwards?"

Scowling, Edward marched out of the room.

------

Angela stumbled on the steps slightly, walking swiftly up to the front door of the two story house before her. It was quite large, but it wasn't that unusual.

Ringing the door bell, she took a deep breath. The door opened quickly, the face of a giggling Alice appearing. She pulled Angela inside instantly, startling the poor girl.

Skipping as she dragged Angela down the hallway, Alice decided it was time for interrogating her. "So... a new pizzini?"

Angela nodded, "Yes, Aro-sama said it was important..." This caught Alice's attention.

"Sama? Oh, Caius is here?" Angela nodded once again.

"Okay, let's go tell the others!"

-------

Bella rolled over to see a large silhouette hovering over her. "Edward?" she mumbled, sleep trying to lull her back into its land.

He nodded, looking her directly in the eye. "Get up," he ordered quietly. His voice was gentle, betraying his eyes that he fought so hard to keep cold, emerald jewels.

She obliged to his commands, getting up and following him until he was at the foot of the short flight of stairs that led to the door. "Where are we going?"

He looked back over his shoulder, smirking. "I decided the hostage should be tortured a little. Is there something wrong with that?"

She stumbled up the stairs after him, staring wide eyed. "W-what?"

"Alice is quite good at it really. Torturing hostages, I mean." There was amusement in his voice, and that made Bella instantly decide that she was dealing with a sadistic killer. And she had actually thought this guy was half decent?!

"Hurry up," he ordered from the doorway. She didn't realize that she had stopped halfway up the stairs...

------

Carlisle looked over the message as Edward and Bella entered the room.

_"Dear Dons, _

_Caius has returned to my side once again, encouraging me to take the actions I wish. So, I would like to invite you all to my mansion in twenty four hours time. I am excited to see you all! _

_Aro _

_P.S. Women be warned, stay alert around Caius." _

Emmett's eyebrows twitched in annoyance as he protectively grabbed Rosalie close to him. "Mine," he announced like a child would over candy.

"Yes, we're all aware of that Emmett," Jasper muttered, rolling his eyes despite the fact that he was hovering close to Alice himself.

"So, tomorrow night shall be a fateful reunion of part of La Cosa Nostra?" Edward murmured, making the room turn to him. A devilish grin came upon Alice's face. "And he wants to meet Bella, so I must get her ready!"

"Oh right, this is where your torture begins." He eyed Bella lazily, looking at her pajamas. Alice had grabbed Rosalie and Bella at this point, dragging them out.

"Do you think she'll live?" Emmett inquired. Edward shrugged. "It's torture, remember?"

-------

Alice shoved Bella into the shower, stripping her down. Grabbing a bar of soap and shampoo, she herself got into the shower. Squealing, Bella tried hopelessly trying to cover her chest.

"Oh, calm down! You're both women," Rosalie barked, leaning against the giant vanity counter.

Wincing, Bella gave into Alice, letting her do her 'torture'.

_An invitation to disaster? Or a life reborn... _


	13. Yakimochi

**My strange sense of humor comes into play in this chapter, please excuse it -.-'**

**Credit to the use of werewolves/La Push characters all goes to Cheetah Eyes (Thank you!! You're awesome!!)**

_A_ _soul that cannot be saved drifts and disappears_

_In the instant it vanishes, it shines faintly_

_Now, it creates a night with a full moon _

_Melissa - Porno Graffiti_

Laurent tossed the pizzini across the table, hitting it and making it skid forward.

James smirked, amusement flashing in his eyes. "Well well, looks like we'll be having fun tonight."

A sneer came upon Laurent's face as well as he nodded. Victoria set herself onto the table, picking up the pizzini.

"This will be... fun."

-------

Edward paced back and forth through the living room impatiently, worry consuming his form as the news droned on in the background.

_"Koda Kumi has broken a nail, which has now ensued mass choas on the world..." _

Emmett shifted uncomfortably as Jasper clutched his head. The anxiety coming off of Edward filled the room, creating a tension like no other.

_"How long do you think it'll take to grow them back? What do you think, Tom? Will she create a new fashion: claws with one short nail?" _

Carlisle cleared his throat, trying to catch Edward's attention as he tore up the rug with his incessant pacing. Emmett leaned over towards him, murmuring in a low baritone. "Do you think he'll dig a hole with his pacing?"

_"Well, Tom, I do believe that it might be for the best after she poked out BoA's eye last week with one of those mammoth nails of hers." _

Carlisle fought back a chuckle, shaking his head. "Hopefully not; we don't need the Chinese police on our tails as well."

_"Wait Tom, we have a news break from Tomothy!! It looks like the Queen of Jpop has come onto the scene, worried over her fellow singers... Oh! What's this?! Namie Amuro has just slapped Koda Kumi and BoA Kwon, I repeat Na-" _

A vase went through the new TV, a seething Edward glaring at it.

"No!" Emmett screeched in horror, making Jasper's stance become more and more like a fetal position on the couch.

"MY BABY! You killed my baby!!" Emmett's finger swung accusingly towards Edward. A growl came from Edward's throat before the two lunged at each other.

Carlisle slowly backed away towards Jasper who was whimpering. Patting the boy on the back, he attempted to console him as his other two sons went rolling past him, wrestling.

"Now now, I know you're sensitive to emotions, but there really isn't anything I can do..." Jasper only continued to whimper.

'Is this what a popstar breaking a nail does to a family?!' Carlisle's mind shouted at him, fear shaking his body. 'What happened to the great La Cosa Nostra?'

A loud thud echoed through the room as Jasper cringed. Yes, Emmett had been flung to the wall.

What a nice day this was going to be...

Carlisle's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as a smile was forced upon his face.

--------

Renee's breathing fluxated horribly, leaving her gasping for breath every minute or so. The phone shook in her hand, her dilated eyes darting around the room nervously. The slow ring echoed through her mind, jolting her uneasy state.

"Hello," a low voice slurred lazily.

"Billy?" Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper, almost too quick for him to catch.

"Renee! I-I heard what h-happened," he mumbled. "Is that why you're calling?"

Tears broke through the dams her eyelids presented as a sob hitched in her throat. "Y-yes" she choked, her voice breaking.

A gruff noise came from the other side of the line, informing her of Billy's displeasure of the situation. "I'll help you..."

"Bella..." she murmured while hiccuping.

-------

Bella stumbled forward, the very point of the heel catching in some unknown crevice.

"You're going to suffer in those, aren't you?" Bella nodded, causing Rosalie to smirk.

"This is torture," she reminded them. Bella nodded numbly, fear building up in her.

"Would I be out of line saying you were cruel?" Bella inquired, looking blankly up towards Rosalie.

She chuckled, something dark held within the sound. "No, you'd be rather entertaining that way."

"Then... you're cruel..." Bella stated, sticking her tongue out at them. Alice slowly helped Bella up to her feet, dancing forward while holding onto her victim. While continuously stumbling forwards, she caught a soft smile appear on Rosalie's lips.

Joy; Rosalie found her suffering as entertainment. Sadistic, no?

--------

Edward watched in amusement as the hostage stumbled along on the carpet of Aro's villa in a failing attempt to walk with heels on. Bella straightened her dress that was practically sucking the life out of her. With another streak of klutziness, she tripped, falling into Edward's back.

"I-I'm s-sorry Don Cullen, s-sir." His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Edward," he muttered.

Quickly shaking her head, she looked back up at him innocently as he helped her regain balance. "Don Cullen."

Their eyes connected in a glare. "Edward."

A well covered up hint of determination flashed through her eyes... with something else. Was that disrespect he saw? "Don Cullen." Even her tone was strong and fierce.

A smirk twitched his lips upward as he watched emotions flashing through her eyes. What was she thinking? It was really beyond him.

"I see," a new voice interrupted. They looked up and saw a man with long silver hair, shimmering as he moved. A look in his eyes showed amusement, and Edward knew what he was thinking instantly.

"Hime-chan is attempting to put disrespect into a keii meishou."

Bella blinked in confusion. "Um... what sir?"

"He does that sometimes," Edward growled. "Speaks in another language to confuse you."

"Ah, Edowaado-kun, you are so rude," the man remarked. "You haven't even introduced your precious little hostage."

Edward growled again slightly, "Caius, this is Isabella Swan."

Caius took Bella's hand, kissing it lightly. "Doozo yoroshiku Izabera-chan."

Bella fidgeted slightly before bowing to him. "Thank you Caius sir..."

Caius eyes locked with Edward's as Bella bowed.

"Nani? Yakimochi?"

A scowl came upon Edward's face as Bella resurfaced from her embarrassed bow, a slight blush tainting her cheeks.

"I must make my leave now,. Farewell Edowaado-kun, Izabera-chan."

"Yakimochi it is," Caius whispered to Edward as he brushed past.

--------

Victoria eyed the occupants of the room, a smile dancing across her lips. "James honey," she murmured in a supposedly seductive manner, "the little hostage isn't being treated right."

"No, she isn't," James agreed, a smirk growing on his face. "Shall I fix that?"

Victoria smiled, nodding. "I'll go entertain myself with Laurent."

James continued to watch the 'meeting' go on as Victoria disappeared to dance with his trusted lackey.

---------

Aro laughed excitedly, grabbing Bella into a hug. "You are so cute!" he cheered, smiling.

She stared at him in utter shock, 'T-this is the head of the mafia?' Her mind questioned her sanity for a moment, believing that she was hallucinating.

He poked at her dress, then pulled at her hair - all the while taking in everything about her. "You are..." his voice was ominious, a dark look coming upon his face.

She gulped, scared of what was going to come next.

A grin broke out on his face, the childishness coming back. "You're truly adorable!! Edward! You must agree!"

Edward shifted as he stood behind them, arms crossed over his chest. "Whatever you say, Aro."

Aro pouted, resting his chin on Bella's shoulder as he looked back upon Edward.

Bella stiffened slightly, blushing brightly. "Caius being mean to little Eddie?"

A noise came from Edward's throat, possibly of discontent.

With a wicked grin spreading across Aro's face, his arms circled around Bella's shoulders. "What did he say?"

"Yakimochi."

Aro laughed, distangling himself from Bella. "Well, if that's so then I guess I shouldn't get on your bad side." He pat Bella's head. "You are a cutie though."

Her face flamed, eyes widening. "Aah... t-thank y-you?"

Grinning, Aro danced off with his arms spread, much like a small child would do when pretending to be an airplane.

--------

Renee's body shook slightly as she walked through the doorway. "B-Billy?" she called, her voice cracking slightly.

A tall man appeared in front of her. "Jacob," she murmured.

He nodded, grinning. "Come on in, the other's have been waiting for you."

Jacob pulled her along into a conference room. A shaky smile appeared upon her lips as they looked up at her. "Hello everyone." She nodded in greeting to all of the giant men.

"Hello."

_Yakimochi... Yakimochi... Yakimochi... his words will torment you forever... _


	14. Angel of the Fallen

**Okay, this is the chapter that you'll probably hate me for, buuuuut, it gets better... eventually...**

**Anywayz, it'll probably be a while before I can update cause stupid fanfiction isn't delivering their messages (such as reviews, chapter updates, c2 alerts (even though I'm slightly overjoyed for a break from them -.-') and most importantly PMs) soooo I can't contact my beta T.T and she currently has the next chapter, sooooo basically until Fanfiction once again fixes itself (trust me, if they don't do it soon I'll track down one of the admin and shoot them!) I can't really update... **

**T.T**

_There's a hidden meaning to all things that happen,_

_I hope you will stay yourself even if your dreams begin to vanish_

_Motherland - Crystal Kay_

Bella fidgeted in the corner of the room, pulling at the midnight blue dress. Sparkles caught different views of the light, shining brightly. Her eyebrow twitched slightly; this really was torture.

'I feel so stupid.' She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, falling over because of her forgotten heels.

She fell sideways into a man's arms. Blinking, their eyes connected, a smirk crossing his face. "Why hello, I'm James..."

Smiling nervously, she nodded. "B-Bella," she murmured.

"Well, would you like to come with me?"

Cocking her head to the side, a look of innocence took over her features.

"What?"

"Come, I would like you to follow me."

Without another word, he pulled her out of the room, her stumbling after him.

-----

Alice's eyes narrowed as she pulled away from Jasper while they danced.

Blinking, he followed her eyes to the door as it quietly swung close. Her eyes then snapped past him, locking with Edward's.

A scowl formed on his face and Jasper could almost feel the anger coming off of the boy as he tried to pull away from Aro's animated conversation.

Grabbing Jasper's hand, she pulled him towards Aro, Caius and Edward.

"Arisu-chan! Jasupaa-kun!" Caius greeted them with a nod, kissing Alice's hand.

"Ah, Jasper and I were wanting to catch up with you." She smiled, shifting so that Edward was blocked from view by Jasper. "It's been so long --too long, really-- since we were able to talk like this."

Edward slipped out of the room without notice.

------

Renee nodded as they continued on about strategies and other what-nots. The only thing that her mind could actually comprehend was her daughter's name.

"Bella," she whimpered out, without realizing it. Billy wheeled next to her, rubbing her back.

She nodded, collasping down into the table. While she continuously banged her head on the table, Billy rubbed her back lightly in a comforting manner.

"These things happen," Paul's thick voice boomed.

"Really?" Renee shot back, a dangerous tone underlying her words. "I didn't know..."

-----

Bella looked at James's back as he continued to drag them towards a door at the end of the hallway.

"James sir... what is... Yakimochi?"

He smirked as his hand connected with the door knob, pulling open the door in a harsh manner. A shriek came from Bella as he threw her against the back wall.

Shutting the door behind him, he crawled over to her.

Cringing away from him as his breath came down on her face, a smirk twisted upon his lips.

"Yakimochi, eh?"

"W-what are you d-doing?"

James's hands traveled along the sides of her dress, ripping them with ease.

"Yakimochi, my dear, is jealousy."

Soft kisses trailed down her neckline, burning her skin. Her eyes darted around, looking for an escape, as he continued to toy with her body.

"This is what truly should be down with a hostage," he murmured, as his right hand slipped up her dress.

Her eyes locked with something on his hip - a gun. Ideas, escape routes, they flooded her mind, focusing on that gun.

A coy smile etched itself onto her lips.

"Really. Jealousy?" she murmured in a truly seductive manner as she leaned her body forward into the kisses.

With her arm held out towards the gun, his hands slipped further up until he was caressing her stomach and chest. Flinching slightly, Bella's finger touched the top of the gun, securing it within her palm.

A loud ripping sound occured as the side of her dress was fully torn apart.

Within seconds the gun was almost adjusted point blank to his forehead. A cruel, twisted smirk came upon his lips.

Slowly and cautiously he moved back slightly, watching her wavering hands.

"You wouldn't..." he murmured, lust lacing his words. "You couldn't..."

"D-don't underestimate m-me," she choked out, tears trailing down her cheeks. The smirk on his face remained ever present.

"Then try."

The safety clicked, the trigger was pulled. Her hands shook furiously as the bullet whizzed past them, slicing the side of his cheek. His lips twisted even further upwards as her eyes widened incrediously in fear.

"No.." she whispered hoarsely.

Without another second passing, the back of his head exploded, blood flying. A scream ripped through her throat as his limp body landed upon her lap. Edward moved forward, ripping James off of her and tossing him carelessly into the wall.

His eyes locked with hers as tears continuously streamed from them. Emerald bore into Chocolate, quieting her fears.

"Come on, we need to leave before the events really hit you."

She blinked, standing as the gun clattered to the ground.

Edward eyed her attire, lace undergarments apparent from the rips. His shirt came her way, surprising her. Looking up, her face turned ruby red as her eyes landed upon his bare chest. "E-Edward?"

A smirk appeared on his lips - she had finally called him Edward. Walking over to her slowly, he noticed she swayed on her feet, eyes entranced by him. Sliding the shirt over her gown, he tied a small knot on her hip so it looked much like a chinese style dress with a slit on the side.

Without warning, he grabbed her dazed form, pulling her out of the room.

------

Jasper rubbed slow, comforting circles on Bella's back as she sobbed into a large pillow. She was now clad in a loose tank top and shorts that Alice had seemingly pulled out of thin air.

Bella's sobs wavered for a moment as she hiccuped, before they grew to a new intensity. Her legs curled further into her chest, protecting her from an unknown enemy.

Edward came in holding plush blankets, eyeing the poor girl.

"Delayed reaction."

Jasper's eyebrows furrowed as continued to rub comforting cirlces.

"James tried to rape her," Edward answered the silent question. Scoffing, Jasper wrapped one of the blankets he had grabbed from Edward's hold around Bella, holding her.

The sobs quieted as his effect took hold, calming her completely. After sniffling and hiccuping a few times, she seemed to have fallen asleep.

"You didn't let him get away with it, did you?"

"I killed him," Edward muttered darkly, dropping down onto the bed beside Bella.

A staring contest ensued between the two males for several minutes, only to be disturbed by a slight mutter.

"Yakimochi."

Jasper's lips twitched up and a small laugh escaped his throat. Edward's face quickly adorned a scowl as he kicked Jasper off the bed.

For a few moments, the boy rolled around on the floor, laughing. Alice quickly came in, dragging him out, but not before he could mutter one last thing.

"_Ooooooooh_, Yakimochi."

Edward suppressed the urge to kill the his brother in law.

------

Billy nodded to the boys in front of him.

"Have fun, be good."

They disappeared within a few instances.

_One thing can come back to haunt you repeatedly, what a shame..._


	15. Forever Invisible

**Okay guys, I'm kinda on a... eh... Sasusaku fluff high! -grins HUGE gigantic creepy grin- seriously, you haven't read fluff till you've read Sasusaku fluff XD Excuse the utter bizarreness of what I have typed in a fluff high please**

**Oh yeah, please don't mind the different scene transitions, it's just kinda like a reminder to myself that I have to beta something...**

**Translations for this chapter: Baka - Idiot**

_Far away, Far away, our thoughts are ceaseless_

_For those days of when we laughed innocently together_

_Please, please stop the time_

_And carve your silhouette into my chest_

_Undo - Cool Joke_

Her eyes opened slowly, vision blurring into focus. When her vision locked onto something, Bella's body jolted up.

"Edward?" she mumbled into a whisper, eyes wide.

Edward lay next to her, dead asleep. As his name met his ears, he mumbled something incoherent, turning to her with arms wrapping around her torso. She froze as he snuggled into her stomach, still murmuring incoherent words.

A blush painted across her cheeks at the sight of his face. He was just so... adorable. She giggled at the thought; one of the most powerful Dons in the world was holding onto her like she was a teddy bear and was looking just like a child.

Stroking his hair, she giggled lightly, feeling like a mother. Edward adjusted himself against her, burying his face further into the folds of her borrowed shirt.

"Edward," she cooed, the blush losing intensity. Mumbling incoherently, he continued to wiggle in the covers.

"Edward." This time she ran her hand through his hair, stroking the side of his neck lightly. Edward's eyes opened slowly, focusing on the stomach in front of him. Within moments he had detached himself from her, falling off the side of the bed in surprise.

Bella giggled again as his face turned bright red.

"I-I... n-no... i-it's n-not what you t-think..."

A single finger to his lips stopped his mindless babbling.

"Sh, I know."

He blinked, unsure of what was really going on.

-

-

Aro frowned at the picture Demitri and Felix had dropped in front of him. A smirk came across Caius's features.

"Baka Maakasu."

The innocent paper held a picture of Marcus, a gunshot wound revealing his death.

"It appears that Section Three of the police force had come across him as he was returning for the party," Felix explained to the frowning Aro.

"Would you like us to track him?" Demitri looked up, his face serious as always.

Aro nodded, eyes still glued to the picture of his murdered friend.

"Kill them all," he breathed out, all hints of childishness gone, replaced with deep hatred.

-

-

Victoria shoved Laurent to the wall, hand tightening around his throat. "Listen closely."

Laurent gulped, attempting to nod. Her ever tightening fingers were sure to leave bruises, not to mention her nails were starting to draw blood.

"I want you to kill that little b-tch and Cullen for what they did to James," she hissed.

"Y-yes," he choked as her hold loosened on his neck.

"Good," she murmured, letting him go. She turned and headed towards the door.

Laurent dropped to the ground, body shaking as fear of the woman took over his thoughts. Because of James' death, she was now the head of their small bit of La Cosa Nostra, so he was forced to follow her orders.

Victoria paused at the door, a twisted smile warping her features. "If you fail, I will personally take care of all three of you."

His head rested on the floor, eyes wide as the door softly shut behind her.

Gasping for breath, he reminded himself that he was --at least for now-- still alive.

-

-

Alice danced over to Edward and Bella, Jasper following at a slower pace. Edward had taken to keeping a larger distance --not that large, mind you-- from Bella this morning, seeing as embarrassment was something rather new to him. Poor kid, couldn't even handle such a small pride killer like that...

"Oh, first he's jealous, now he's blushing," Jasper sniggered out, making Edward's blush intensify.

Edward's hand twitched into a fist, slowly raising up to hit Jasper.

Alice grabbed Bella, dragging her off. Bella's eyes widened as Jasper barely dodged the incoming fist.

"Be good," Alice called, only to recieve to grunts in reply.

"Y-you're just going to l-let them kill each other?" Bella couldn't quite grasp what was going on. All she knew was that Jasper was almost able to connect his kick to Edward. That, in effect, would hurt Edward, and believe it or not --though, I'm sure you'll all believe it...-- she did not want that!

"Ah, come on! They'll live." Alice giggled, smiling brightly at Bella. She could only stare in response. There was something so wrong with everyone here...

Now that she thought about it, there was something wrong with her surroundings.

Like... when did she get into a limo? This was a limo, right? It was quite large, black too...

Wasn't the mafia supposed to be --oh, I don't know-- behind the scenes-y?

Alice ripped Bella from her rambling thoughts by pulling her out of the car --no, wait, now that she was out, that was most definently a limo-- and into what seemed to be a french boutique.

Why were people looking at her funny? Sure, she had a little midget height girl dragging her down the street but--

Oh shit.

She was still wearing her pajamas, wasn't she?

-

-

The barrel of the gun connected lightly with the driver's head, another hand coming around to ensure that his head would stay firmly locked onto to gun.

"Now, listen closely." A masculine voice, not good.

The driver's eyes flitted upward, catching a glimpse of the man threatening to kill him.

"I-I'm l-listening."

"Good. I'm going to go with you in the back during your little 'retrieval' mission later on, got it?"

_For Revenge is the way of La Cosa Nostra... _


	16. Inner Universe

**Eh... -shakes head- I apologize once again... too much fun, I'm having waaaaaay to much fun with this...**

**So yes, sorryz... I'm deciding maybe I shouldn't ever read fluff again...**

**Note to Kute Anime Kitty, I have once officially redone my top ten hot/cute list XD**

**Review Reply to Italian Girl: Actually, I do know about the mafia, just probably not as much as someone actually in Italy -.-' (which you may or may not be from) But I have been trying my best to learn about the mafia to create this fic. As I have learned it, La Cosa Nostra is the mafia itself (the name roughly translating to 'Our Family') and that the former (and possibly still) head of the mafia (La Cosa Nostra) was operating from Corleon, Sicily (hence the setting). Once again, as how I've learned it, Yakuza, Russian mafia, American mafia, and the Sicilian mafia are all just extensions of the original La Cosa Nostra.**

**So, I guess, I may not have learned it right, but whaever -shrugs- too late to change anything... btw, 'don't know nothing' is a double negative, implies I do know something.**

_Who are they?_

_Where are they?_

_How can they possibly know all this?_

_They - Jem_

Jacob crouched in front of the two dead bodies, examining them. They had just killed... children? Yes, brother and sister it seemed, holding hands till the moment they died.

Sam held the gun, smoke still rising from the recently fired shots. "Jared, report."

Jared stepped forward from behind, "Alec and Jane, twins. They work directly for Aro, the Capo di Tutti Capi. Their work has been hard to trace because of this direct work, meaning they receive verbal orders mainly..."

"Did they specialize in anything?" Sam asked, eyebrows furrowing.

"Torture."

Jacob stood from his crouch, turning away from the bloody bodies. "When they start using kids it's truly frightening."

Embry nodded, eyes glued to the unmoving bodies.

"Who was the one we killed yesterday?" Paul interrupted.

Jared paused momentarily before replying, "Marcus, head of the American mafia. He was headed back from some party that Capo di Tutti Capi was reportedly

having..."

"We still haven't found the ones that we really want though..." Paul announced, finger inching towards the trigger.

------------

Felix stared at the two bodies, smirking. "Oops, looks like we're too late."

"You didn't like them, did you?" Demetri asked darkly, taking pictures with his cellphone.

Shaking his head, Felix turned to a different direction. "Soo... you think they went that way?"

"Yes... they did."

-------------

A store clerk --probably a fashion designer of some kind, for the fact that she couldn't even attempt to pronounce the name of the store if she wanted to-- eyed Bella as she stood still in her borrowed pajamas, trying to shy away.

That was when her already strange day went downhill.

The woman --now that she was bending over slightly Bella could see the name tag labeled Aurelie... and how, do you suppose, were you supposed to pronounce that?-- tugged lightly at the bottom of her shorts. "Mens boxers?" she inquired in a heavy... was that a Norwegian accent?

Oh, things were just starting to overload her today.

"Ah... I was wondering what I forgot," Alice mumbled lightly, smiling at the clerk.

Aurelie raised a single eyebrow, a look that definitely said I-so-do-not-get-paid-enough-if-I-work-with-these-kind-of-idiots crossed her face. "Like... dressing her?"

Bella twitched... French name, French boutique, French hairsytle, French clothing, French heritage... Norwegian accent.

There is something so wrong with that...

Maybe she was a poser? Was that possible? Bella supposed that French was something that many woman wanted to be... but couldn't...

Poser...

"Mmm, yes actually! That's why we're here really, cause she's just moved in with us after a crisis involving a tragic incident," Alice made sure to sniff lightly and wipe away a tear at this point to play it up, "And she was left borrowing clothes from me, my brother and my husband."

"Oh, you're married?" Of course, the only thing she was worried about was the possibility of meeting a hot guy. "And this brother of yours...?"

Alice pouted, "Hmph, like an emotionless iceblock I tell ya! When I set him up on blind dates it's always 'No, Alice, she talked too much about herself' or 'No, Alice, her face looked like plastic because of all the make up she was wearing' or 'No, Alice, there was no way in the world her chest was real'. Then finally he started saying, 'No, Alice, I've decided to cut off contact with the rest of your gender'. I just don't get him!"

Aurelie, of course, looked quite disappointed as she too pouted. "Maybe he's gay?"

"No, no! Silly!" Alice giggled, "You see, a certain little somebody," she poked Bella in the side of the head at this point, "has gotten him to fall head over heels despite himself..."

"Oh... taken," she murmured spitefully before turning back to the racks.

Bella twitched, not even taking in the full extent of their conversation, just the... accent.

They pulled Bella in and out of the dressing room, Alice dressing the dazed --twitching is more accurate probably, but no one seemed to notice-- Bella in outfit after outfit in an attempt to find something that was 'just right'.

When Bella finally started to get over the initial shock of the disturbing combination of accent and ancestry, she noticed the HUGE WHOPPING pile of clothes that sat oh so innocently in front of her.

She blinked, did one of those shirts just wave at her in a flirty manner? Now that she looked closer, were those clothes... or stripes of cloth?

Her eyebrow twitched. They were clothes... or at least, expensive excuses for clothes...

It really was a wonder, the more you paid for clothes, the less you actually got. Why not just buy some good, decently sturdy clothes for fifteen dollars instead of these --she leaned to the side slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of the pricetag-- oh, well, these were only fifteen dolla--

WOAH!

Why in the world were there two zeros behind that fifteen, and before the decimal point?! What was Alice buying? Was she out of her mind?!

"A-alice" Bella choked out, still shocked at the sheer cost of... was that a dress or a hand towel?

Upon hearing her name, Alice danced over towards Bella. "Yes?"

"Are those clothes?"

Why in the world were there two zeros behind that fifteen, and before the decimal point?! What was Alice buying? Was she out of her MIND?!

"A-alice," Bella choked out, still shocked at the sheer cost of... was that a dress or a hand towel?

Upon hearing her name, Alice danced over towards Bella. "Yes?"

"Are those clothes?"

She giggled, "Of course!"

"W-who are they for?"

Pinching Bella's cheek, she grinned. "You."

Bella gulped. Great, Edward would avoid her, she wouldn't be wearing proper attire, and to top it all off... where the HELL was she getting all this money?

"Don't worry Bella, we're rich..."

"No kidding..."

Isn't this interesting...? Okay, maybe not... but ya know...

Before Bella could really fathom what was truly going on, Alice and Aurelie seemed to be exchanging phone numbers like a good couple...

Wait, nope.

Credit cards... Even better, don't cha think?

Alice flashed it to Aurelie, who nodded. The strange translucient credit card of an unknown brand found its way quickly back into her purse.

So she was seriously buying all of this. Why didn't it shock Bella?

Grinning, Alice grabbed up what seemed to be about fifteen bags of assorted clothes, dancing out towards the door. Bella followed, once again dazed. How could she carry all that when she was so tiny?

Why had she been asking so many questions today? Seriously...

They came to a stop in front of the limo, Alice opening it for Bella. She nodded towards the car, smiling softly as a signal to get in. Bella nodded herself, getting into the car. Alice quickly followed, dropping the bags onto the ground.

The locks clicked downwards softly, signaling an involuntary safety precaution taken. "Welcome ladies."

Alice and Bella's head snapped up to the man directly across from them. "Laurent," Alice breathed, hatred apparent in her voice.

"Y-you know him?" Bella whispered, grasping Alice's arm.

Alice nodded, "He's one of James's old lackeys..."

Bella's eyes widened, "R-revenge."

A smirk twisted Laurent's features, "Exactly my dear..."

_It always seems like you're one step ahead when you're really two steps behind..._


	17. Blue Vinegar

**Is it strange I picture Demetri like Shino?**

**Translations of the chapter: это зависит от ситуации - Depends on the situation; поторопись - Hurry up; извращенный человек - Perverts**

_What are you afraid of?_

_It won't stop anymore,_

_It can't be stopped,_

_In this epilouge to despair_

_Gates of Heaven - Do as Infinity_

"Arekku and Jein?"

Felix nodded, the grin he tried to prevent from spreading across his face showing through. Demetri's eyes traveled over the view of the city from the window, calculations apparent in his thoughts.

Aro's frown seemed to become permanent upon his face. "We are dwindling in numbers quickly."

"We have thousands of others, all ready to replace the gone," Caius reassured blandly.

"Self destruction was always there... this is different."

"This is a problem." Demetri agreed, frowning.

-

-

Alice's eyes watched Laurent with a certain wariness that Bella wasn't aware she was capable of. Laurent's body moved with small busy work, messing over what appeared to be a camera - video camera that is.

"Alice," Bella whispered, trying to get something reassuring out of the situation. Alice didn't respond, focus still held by Laurent.

They were tied to chairs, but not gagged. No, he was obviously trying to get a conversation out of them after he was done. A sense of sadism filled the air, telling Bella that this time, the kidnapper was dangerous unlike with the Cullens.

He turned away from the video camera as a red light blinked on in the corner, facing them. He grabbed a piece of Bella's long, dark hair, bringing it up to his nose. "You smell... delicious..."

Alice's eyes looked elsewhere, trying to get away from reality.

"Victoria wouldn't like it if you did anything to the hostages..."

"What she doesn't know can't hurt her..."

-

-

Felix twitched in aggitation as he waited for Demetri to finish looking around. "Do you have any patience?" Demetri inquired in a slow, drawl like voice.

"это зависит от ситуации" he said quickly, eyes darting around the dark alleyway. "Can't we just nuke the city?"

Demetri shook his head, "I will never understand the ones from the Russian Mafia... so violent..."

"Yeah, поторопись. At least we're not all извращенный человек, like Yakuza members..."

Finally figuring out the direction to go from his instincts, or possibly something more, he continued onwards. "You shouldn't judge one group just by the leader..."

"You're doing the same thing by to the Russian mafia, you hypocrite!"

A smirk laid on his lips as the violent Felix threw his little temper tantrum.

"But you're not the leader, are you?"

-

-

Edward opened the door of the limo, only to see it inhabited slowly by bags upon bags of new clothing. Jasper peered over his shoulder before turning to the driver.

"Where are they?"

The driver shook, eyes becoming downcast. "They went with a fellow who was associated with James... Laurent, I believe his name was. He wasn't a very pleasant man."

Edward slammed the door shut, storming off towards the house once again.

"They were kidnapped..." Jasper whispered in disbelief.

-

-

"Come on," Phil whined, slipping his arm underneath Renee's knees. His other arm snaked behind her back as he pulled her gently out of the car. Setting her on her feet, he closed the door to the car behind them.

Watery eyes looked up at him and she whimpered, tugging on his sleeve.

"Please..."

His head shook quickly, making sure he didn't succumb to his wife's begging.

"No... you need to lighten up a bit, to get things off your mind," Phil explained as he dragged her into the night club.

Multi colored lights danced across every surface, bouncing back to only hit themselves. The music was blarring at such a volume to shake the very ground beneath them as they walked, much like a earthquake would do. Bodies were packed together, drinking excessively and pushing their way to the dance floor to move in ways that couldn't truly be qualified as dancing... or anything else really than having a seizure.

In all, it reminded her of Hell at the moment. How many of these attendees would drink too much tonight and end up dying of alochol poisoning? Drown in their own vomit? Be shot on the way home?

Yet, wasn't it she who used to drag Phil to such a cryptic place, claiming it was good for the soul? What had this all done to her?

"Heh heh, yeah, ya know it!" A loud, obnoxious voice boasted over the music. "My company was attacked by the La Cosa Nostra, and I lived through it!"

Renee peaked past Phil's shoulder, staring at a man with bleached, spiked hair. He was leaning against the counter, a drink in one hand while the other did minor motions to emphasize his points. Surrounding the man were more of his gender, listening with absolute thanatosis.

"Of course, though, there were some casualties. Eric, Tyler and Lauren weren't as lucky as me. Ah, and there was this new guy, workin for protection money." At this point Renee's eyes narrowed as the man scoffed. "Yeah, he got it real good, between the eyes."

A few men in the crowd winced at the information. "Che, you're truly caring of your workers, Mike," one commented casually.

Mike smirked, flipping out a wallet with his free hand. Within it was a picture of a girl their age, smiling brightly at them. "I believe this was his daughter. She was kidnapped, sadly."

Another man whistled, "Real cutie."

"Yeah, I would love to get in her pants." Mike laughed loudly, taking another drink of the clear substance held within the glass.

Renee's eyes narrowed. She was absolutely positive that was Bella in the picture.

_As things come together, people are driven farther apart._


	18. Spectrum Nexus

**Review Reply to Italian Girl: Okay... I understood half of that -.-''' Sorry, I'm barely fluent in English, I'm not currently trying too hard at learning other languages. Well, I'm sorry I've been writing it wrong, but as I was introduced to it, both 60 minutes (omg, I paid attention in history) and wikipedia used the name 'La Cosa Nostra' (along with this stupid evil soccer team, cause they're coach tricked them when they wanted the name italian girls XD) So I'm sorry that I've been writing it wrong, I really didn't know any better -.-''' And I don't want to change it at this point because it'd be a strange point to change half the story...**

**Also, bout Sicily, it's the stupid 60 minutes and my history teacher combination that has confused me beyond belief T.T It was an episode on (I believe) Bernardo Provenzano and he was (as my teacher said) 'The head of La Cosa Nostra' (that is wha she said, 'la' and all...) And he was located in Corleon, Sicily so I assumed (from all the contradicting statements of everything) that it was fine to locate it there XD Obviously not...**

**So so, in the end, I'm sorry!**

**Next Note: Woah O.o 100 reviews and 7000 hits... o.O I'm... speechless... uh... thank you?**

**Translations: мертвый конец - Dead end**

_Now it's over,_

_And this is what she said:_

_He's lying on the ground,_

_Bullet in his head_

_Sarah Yellin' - Three Doors Down_

Renee broke away from Phil's side, surprising him as she stormed towards the offending teen. Wasn't he too young to even be here? When had this city become so lawless? Oh yes, it always had been this bad.

Mike's mouth spewed more blabbering nonsense, seeming to speed up unconciously as she approached. Stopping just behind some of the awed onlookers, she observed him. A slight pink tinge was held upon his cheeks, showing signs of moderate to heavy drinking, plus he was still waving around Charlie's wallet that he had abducted from who know's where.

In other words, she had all rights to kill him.

"Should've just sent her to a wh-re house! She would've made tons of money that way! I never truly understood those Cosa Nostra idiots, all bout the killing! In the end it's all about what pleases! They need to find less pleasure in killing and more in wh-res!"

A few of the men's figures shook as they laughed in argeement, the air heavily pungent with the smell of alcohol. Renee's eyes lit with an extreme fury as she shoved aside two of the towering figures, storming towards Mike who was located in the center of the imbeciles.

"What the f-ck old hag! We're mindin' ou--" He was cut off by the loud, resounding sound of her hand meeting his cheek. Mike's eyes widened as his head momentarily stayed to the side, shocked by the impact.

"You b-tch!" he roared as reality swept over him, his fist heading towards her face.

A smirk formed upon the assailant's lips, "You don't have to stick up for your mom all the time, sometimes biddy hags like her need to learn their lessons the hard way."

The crowd jostled slightly, not quite sure how to react to the situation, though the nearest were smart enough to back away. Mike's eyebrows furrowed, glaring hard at Phil. "Is that so? Well then maybe you should get this f-ckin b-tch's punishment?"

Phil sighed, taking the wallet that was thrown onto the bar in order to strike back, next to the not so long ago abandoned margarita.

"Hey, that's --"

"My wife's ex-husband's wallet, the picture of their daughter, and the speaking of his death proving it. Renee wouldn't have hit you otherwise, since you were speaking of her own daughter so vulgarly." Phil's arm wrapped around Renee's shoulder, guiding her out of the club.

"Good day."

-

-

Jared pointed down a hallway through the complex warehouse after momentarily consulting his handheld device. Sam nodded, leading the group through the multiple threads of halls.

"We shall find our next victim soon?" Paul asked eagerly, a grin twisting up onto his face.

Jacob snorted. "This isn't a time for ruthless slaughter."

"Not yet" Paul continued to grin, sadism dripping from his body. Jacob snarled as the grin seemingly mocked him.

"Be patient you two, we shall find the girl at the end of the hallway," Jared informed them, following directly behind the too calm Sam.

-

-

Edward hit his head repeatedly against the door frame of the car. Jasper sighed, placing a hand on his brother in law's shoulder, attempting to calm him.

"I know, you're thinking we should've gone with them."

"No, I'm thinking that this is all my fault."

"Because we didn't go with them."

Edward just growled in response, shrugging his hand off his shoulder. With a loud thud, he was in the car, the silver door glaring at Jasper. He sighed, turning and walking towards the passenger's side. First, his Alice and somebody that Alice claimed would be perfect for Edward --proof having become evident just earlier this morning-- were taken away by the crony of some idiot who attempted to rape said potential wife.

His eyebrow twitched as he sat down within the car, Edward's masochistic behavior seeping into his body through the thick air. Second, Edward, his oh so dear little brother in law, was being a brat on the extreme end of the subject.

"Just go," Jasper pleaded, sighing. Edward complied quickly, speeding away at over a hundred miles an hour.

Conspicuous? No, not at all...

-

-

Renee shifted on the seat within the car that she sat upon. "I'm sorry," she muttered, looking away through the window.

Phil shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road. "It's extremely understandable what you did... it was just... you didn't think."

Renee's head hit the window, street lamps lighting up her face as they passed them.

"That thoughtless action could've led to a horrible outcome though, seeing as you were in the middle of a circle of drunkards," Phil continued, sighing. "I just don't want anything to happen to you, we've had enough lose already..."

Her knees dragged themselves up to her chest, arms encircling them. Choking down a sob, she nodded, an invisible tear sliding down her cheek.

"Do you think they'll find Bella?"

A sharp intake of breath came from Phil - this was not a question he wanted to answer.

"Sometimes, even if they do find a victim, the victim is not willing to come back..."

The sob escaped Renee's throat.

-

-

The door slammed open, demanding the attention of both the hostages and the kidnapper. Paul loomed in the doorway, the other officers staying invisible behind him.

"Who the hell are you?! Did Victoria send you so she didn't have to come herself?"

A smirk crossed Paul's face as he raised his gun. Laurent froze as it was pointed directly at him.

"Die you pathetic scum," he sneered, the safety clicking before the sound of gun powder exploding was heard.

Bella screamed, scared by the ongoings, and Alice gave her a pointed look, telling her without words to calm or else their lives could be in possible danger also.

The cellphone made a slight noise as it snapped a picture of the dead body.

Demetri turned away then, to face Felix who leaned in the exit.

"мертвый конец," Felix sneered, grinning madly, sadistically.

"Yes, yes, another dead end, get over yourself..."

"This is all a wild goose chase!" he murmured, melodrama becoming his new found glory.

"No, we're following a death trail..." Demetri muttered back, hatred palpably dripping from his voice. Felix blinked, confused as he turned to watch Demetri move through the multiple hallways of the warehouse.

_A death trail? What is that? It sounds so... ominous... _


	19. Play the Game, Pay the Price

**Hi! Sorryz bout the taking a while (in your guys' perspective) for updating! I've been addicted lately to let's see... _Vampire Knight_, _Eyeshield 21_ and _Goong (Palace)_. -.-'''''' Eh heh heh... don't kill me?**

**Disclaimer (since it has occured to me that I may have never done this for any of my fics...): An important question has been brought to my attention lately; Ninjas or Pirates? WHY DO YOU PEOPLE MAKE ME CHOOSE?!?! T.T Both of them are awesome... -hugs Luffy- I SWEAR ON MY MEMBERSHIP IN MONKEY D. LUFFY'S PIRATE CREW THAT I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT... or New Moon or whaever else there is in this world you want to accuse me off... yeah... **

**Yes, I'm suffering from what some might call a sugar high...**

**WAHAHAHAHAHAHA -coughcough- HA!!! I finally found the site that the Twilight contest things are on! (Thank you MyBrandOfHeroin!!! Yes, I do read your guys' profiles XD) And... LIEK OMGAWD!!! (Sugar high... blame it all on the sugar high) I know some of those stories!!!!! And!!! Idiot Plus Flamethrower Equal Mass Havoc is nominated for three of the categories (and better win one of them dangit!!) This is awesome... but... but... THERE'S NO SONGFICS!!! This is such a tragedy -sobs- Come on people, we must have songfics nominated! There must be at least one good one! (This is coming from an obsessive songfic writer, so you can probably write all this rambling off as insanity)**

**But does anyone know when we'll be able to vote for that? I wanna vote for Idiot Plus Flamethrower Equals Mass Havoc... wait... it's nominated for Work in Progress... ooooh, that means we can't end it yet!! Must tell FallenAngel this XD I'll stop thinking out loud to all you now since you're probably about to kill me...**

**Translations: Avete ottenuto la posta - You got mail; Messaggero di MSN - MSN Messenger; Ragazza del daddy - Daddy's girl**

**Abosolutely could not find a good song, so... um... Semi quotes anyone?**

_Henrietta took the gun, beginning to explain the situation that had happened._

_"If I fell in love with someone.. and I found out that it would never be fulfilled... I would...Kill that person, and then... I would do this," she murmured softly to the night air as she turned the gun on herself, staring directly down the barrel of the gun. _

_Henrietta - Gunslinger Girl: Chapter Five; The Death of Elsa de Sica (Part Two) _

Victoria stared at the empty room before her, inspecting how the blood splattered across the back wall and the floor.

"I always find it so interesting how the blood splatters, without seemingly any reason to go where it does..."

She kicked Laurent, watching the limp body go upwards before quickly hitting the ground, blood leaking outwards into the ground. Obviously, the death had only been a while ago since the body hadn't yet started to truly decompose. Yes, not even a bad odor was emitting from him yet - only a few hours had passed at most.

To top it off, the chairs were knocked over, so the two hostages went down with a fight.

A smile tugged at her lips as the splattered blood entranced her once again.

Maybe it was worth it; revenge or not, this was truly entertaining.

-

-

**Half a Year Ago**

**Corleon, Sicily**

Renee grabbed hold of Bella's wrist, stopping her from leaving through the door.

"You don't have to go..." Renee stated, a pleading undertone poorly hidden.

Bella shifted, looking over her shoulder towards her mother, a small smile etched upon her face. "No... I can't stay here."

"Please! You really don't have to go!"

Shaking her head, Bella gave a hollow laugh. The same smile was matched by a distant look in her eyes. "You're supposed to make the most out of your life..." At this point she sighed, regaining eye contact with Renee. "You can't do that with me here."

"I'll leave so you can make the most of your life, and help Charlie do so in the process. He is having trouble, you know - this is the best option for everyone."

Renee's eyes softened when the realization of who was being the adult washed over her. She tugged Bella back by her wrist, enveloping her in an embrace.

"What about you?"

"I'll make the most of my life..."

-

-

**Present Day**

**Corleon, Sicily**

Edward slammed the door of the car, staring at the warehouse in front of him.

"Are you sure this is it?!" When'd he get so uptight? Jasper sighed, knowing this wasn't the time to fool around.

"My sources told me that at least something went down here..."

Nodding, Edward stormed into the building, leaving Jasper behind. Following his uptight brother in law, he headed within the large warehouse, only taking a glimpse at the deserted streets behind him. An uneasy feeling began to wash over him, and he knew that it wasn't Edward feeling this way.

Maybe it was the intense smell of rust penetrating their senses that made him feel this way. It made him worry that maybe... maybe Alice hadn't been lucky this time. Possibly, they were walking into the biggest death trap known to man.

Though, all in all, Edward's anger that seemed to flood from his body into Jasper's was evening out this uneasy feeling.

Yes, even death couldn't part him from his beloved Alice.

-

-

Aro stared at the picture, chuckling happily and clapping his hands. "Haha! I hated that b-st-rd!!"

The other men stared at him blankly. "Should we burst his bubble by telling him that he was a semi vital asset?" Caius shook his head, sighing.

"Let him be happy, this is probably the best time he's had in the last few days..."

"Sadistic man we have for a boss..." Demetri murmured, shaking his head.

They nodded, sweatdropping. "We should've burst his bubble," Felix sneered as Aro began to bounce around the room, happily clapping his hands together. "Yay yay!!"

"So, this calls for a celebration, ne?" Caius inquired, a perverted grin consuming his face. Aro changed direction, running over Caius and engulfing him in a hug.

Felix twitched, stepping away from the two. "What would Caius call this... Yaoi Action?" he asked, turning towards a disgruntled Demetri who was inching towards the door.

In moments, both had bolted out the door, leaving Caius to his punishment of being glomped to death.

-

-

Renee stared at the chair below her, thinking over what her daughter had told her so seemingly long ago for the umpteenth time that day.

"Make... the... most... of... life..."

She sighed. The meaning of the words not seeping into her no matter how slow she said it. Her body lifted itself off of the couch, heading towards the bookshelf. Numbly, her fingers pulled down the dictionary, her body falling backwards into a nearby chair, the book hitting her lap silently.

The pages flipped before her face without warning. Maybe... her body was acting without her consent now. Then again, it could be acting with consent and she could be completely unaware of it. More and more she was beginning to feel like a drama queen...

The pages fell still, revealing a single word buried among many others.

**Most: adj; the greatest amount, quantity, or degree. **

A sigh came from the doorway, making her look up to see Phil. He was leaning against the doorway, fingers rubbing his temples. He looked so... old like that, so many years wiser then his body lead others to believe. Normally, she would have thought of it as adorable, but now... now she felt guilty for some odd reason.

"Philosophical zombies... look it up please..." he muttered before turning out of the room, leaving. Dumbly, she nodded, setting down the small dictionary beside her.

"Philosophical zombies..." she repeated to herself, heading off to find her computer.

-

-

Jacob looked at the two girls. "Alice Cullen and Isabella Swan?" A scowl sat upon his face that was neither cruel nor kind. Alice nodded, glaring at him fiercely.

Jared sighed, "What should we do with her, Sam?"

"Alice?" Sam inquired, looking up from certain paperwork that he was filling out. Upon recieving a nod, Sam continued. "We'll have to turn her into the Sicilian Police force. Bella, on the other hand, will be returned to her home safely... and unharmed."

Alice frowned at this, looking them all over quickly. "I'm right here, you know..."

Sam chuckled, nodding. "Yes, you seem quite nice for a mafioso, but you must be used to this." Alice's eyes narrowed, her glare reaching a frightening extent that Bella was unaware she - the formerly unintimidating Alice - was capiable of.

"Though, judging by that look, you're not..."

"Edward mainly kills the ones that oppose him, Emmett occassionally get into gang fights..." she muttered bitterly, "But that's it!"

He nodded. "But you are still part of the mafia, and we are a special section of the police force brought together to pacifically take down La Cosa Nostra, so there is no way we can just overlook you."

A growl came out from Alice's throat, making Embry chuckle. "She's got spunk though, you gotta like that!"

"T-this is stupid..." Bella muttered under her breath, looking away towards the bolted window that gave proof they were now on the second floor of a random building within the confines of the city. How did they keep moving around like this? The city wasn't that big...

-

-

Jasper called to stop Edward as he dashed forward towards the unsuspecting victim. At the last moment, Victoria turned away from the splattered blood to face Edward. It was too late for Jasper to stop him as Edward's fist connected with her face. Her eyes grew wide as her back hit the wall harshly, a cry of pain escaping her throat.

Coughing, she wiped salvia from her lip and stood. He ran at her again, swinging his leg just slow enough for her to dodge underneath and wipe around behind him, elbowing him in the back and sending him forward, his head hitting the cement wall. Her fist swung from the side to hit his head again, but was stopped as he caught her fist quickly, turning around.

With widened eyes she stared down the barrel of the gun, almost seeing the bullet that was held within. The safety clicked off as Jasper quickly rushed out the door, not wanting to get be covered by evidence.

A smile tugged at her lips, knowing she was going to join her precious James soon. The bullet neared her in almost slow motion, and instead of the horrible existence she called a life flashing endlessly before her, she found herself wishing for it to move faster. 'Faster,' she pleaded, 'faster.'

Her body fell backwards from the impact of bullet and the back of her skull, the greater force winning out in the end. Blood splattered behind her, creating an image worthy of being called a masterpiece. He turned away from the convulsing body as it went haywire from the lack of information coming from her brain. Yes, it was dying slowly while her heart had died long ago.

Jasper cracked open the door, peaking in. "It's over?"

Edward nodded, "It's over..." he repeated the sentence to Jasper, only more firmly.

"Now we have to find them..."

"Yes."

-

-

Renee sat down in her computer chair, shaking the mouse gently to see if she got a response. The screen remained blank, the mouse refusing to light up as it usually did. Sighing, she leaned over and pressed the power button, only to have to put more force into it to gain a response.

The screen lit up immediately, Windows xp appearing to be written across the screen as it loaded, then came to another screen, the blue shining onto her face. Her hand enveloped the mouse, clicking upon the name 'Renee'. It took a moment before responding then her background appeared, a picture of all four of them from about a year ago.

When Charlie was alive and Bella was safe.

It took all her determination not to break down then and there. A long, rectangular box popped up, reading Messaggero di MSN. Her information filled itself in with a magic that only the computer possessed and she clicked the button signaling to sign in.

After a long moment, the contacts appeared. Only two were present, both offline. One was simple, only a name; Charlie. The other was more of a cute screen name, of one who was up with the times; Ragazza del daddy. Her only two contacts... they would never sign on again.

After a long moment, the contacts appeared. Only two were present, both offline. One was simple, only a name; Charlie. The other was more of a cute screen name, of one who was up with the times; Ragazza del daddy. Her only two contacts... they would never sign on again.

A blue box popped up quickly from the side of the screen. 'Avete ottenuto la posta' it read, and she clicked on it, wondering why in the world she would have new emails. When was the last time she was on here? About a week before everything started happening so suddenly if she remembered right.

**From: BellaMarie(at)hotmail(dot)com**

**Hi mom! I'm here for the weekly update so you don't freak out again ;P Things are starting to get better, Charlie's recovering and getting more adjusted to the lifestyle. At this rate, everything will be as usual in no time! How are you doing?**

**Love you, **

**Bella **

For reasons unknown to her, she moved the mouse to the reply button, typing a hasty response and sending it. With tears gathering in her eyes, she returned to her original reason of getting on the computer. She clicked in the url, typing in

It loaded quickly and she was able to type in the desired search; 'Philosophical Zombies'. Once again, the highspeed internet that she paid an extra fee for every month showed its value as a list of hits appeared, the desired words appearing in bold under each title.

**Zombies**

**Death Central is your first source of information about the different types of zombies, functional zombie, philosophical zombie, voodoo zombie and hollywood ...**

She clicked upon it, then following it unto the link labeled 'Philosophical Zombies'.

"A philosophical zombie is one who is a human being in terms of physical aspects, but is lacking conciousness. In many terms they are an 'Inner Zombie'..." Her face faltered, her hands coming up to cover the agonized look that overwhelmed it. Tears flooded down the tops of her cheeks, and pooled into her palms, stinging all that they touched.

Was this how she was acting? Had she been this horrible?

-

-

In the dark corner of a seemingly abandoned back room of a bakery, a computer's black screen came to life. The old speakers chimed as a blue box appeared in the corner of the shabby Windows 95 computer.

**New message from Renee **

_A Velveteen Equation... _


	20. Outcast among Numbers

**About the rating for all those who care: You're all uptight. It's simple as that. The only reason I actually upped the rating to T was because of the attempted rape thing... So... In my aspect of past experiences with fics, here's how the rating system is usually done and how I'll do it:**

**K: Usually fluffy and cute, mild kissing and such, mild violence**

**K+: Heavier violence, fluffy romance or just romantic sayings and such, kissing still used, but usually in greater detail**

**T: Sexual humor is abundant, possible limes done (though people like those to be M's) and attempted rape, drugs**

**M: Lemons, Limes, Rape, etc**

**Also, sorry for the late (kinda, but not really cause there isn't a true deadline set for it XP) update, but... I GOT MY WII, OMFG!! OMG OMG OMG!!! -hops around in circles- WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Disclaimer (cause these are fun!): I OWN TWILIGHT!!! I SWEAR THAT IF I WAS LYING THE SEXY HOBO HIMSELF WOULD KILL ME!!! -Scar grabs my head and 'splodes it- (and in math, that's wha you call an indirect proof XD)**

**Final Note: Thank you so much to NotMixedEqually!! You helped me so much with this chapter, you're sooo awesome! Gah, I LOVE YOU ToT**

**Translations: damn бога оно - God d-mn it**

_Don't beg for your mercy_

_Take time from your life and don't stop trying_

_Listen up,_

_Put your hands up_

_You gotta fight the nightmare_

_And ya gotta protect yourself_

_Gotta get down and fight this pressure_

_Gotta fight your own war_

_Player - Origa and Heartsdale_

The dark colors blended together in a somewhat ominous depiction of a melting body perhaps. She was feeling adamant at the moment, reasons truly unknown. She watched the dark blues drip down the walls around her, the entire room that was displeasingly small, to the bottom crooks of the floors. They met, gathering together in a pool of black.

Hell?

Yes, Hell was a nice name for it. The dying person had done wrong in life and was sentenced for eternal torture in Hell. Though, just maybe, the person hadn't done anything wrong. It was possible. Maybe they had been a victim of wrong doing, framed eternally for something so evil that it was unforgivable.

For becoming part of something that was a sin of nature.

A door slid open in a fashion she wasn't aware doors were capable of, a single emerald orb peeking through. It wandered across the room, laying on her, but seeing through her. Bronze obscured her view of the perfect jewel, and hope welled in her chest. "Edward," she called out, yet no sound came.

Taking a step back, he slid the door back. Darkness over took the room once more, shrouding everything. Within the darkness the hues accumulated once again into the figure from the depths of Hell, flinging itself at her.

-

-

Bella's eyes snapped open, her breathing hitching in the back of her throat. The white wall glowed dully as she leaned against it, trying to remember what was going on.

"A-alice..." she whispered hoarsely, eyes beginning to dart around nervously.

"Yes?" a dull voice chimed, much like an old bell that had been chipped. Bella closed her eyes, relieved that she wasn't alone. "Are you scared?"

"No..." Bella responded instantly, wondering who she was trying to convince more. "We... we need to get out of here. Really soon, please?"

A grin and giggle came from Alice, making Bella lift her head away from the horribly done whitewash wall. Turning towards Alice, she saw a maniacal grin spreading across the pixie like girl. In an instant, Alice leaped from the makeshift bed in the corner to Bella in the other corner, covering the entire width of the room in a fleeting second. Bella tried to catch the girl who somewhat reminded her of a bullet being so small, yet fierce.

Alice crashed head first into Bella, burying her head into the second's chest while Bella absorbed her momentum, hitting the back wall hard.

"Finally! I've been waiting for you to get some spirit so we could get outta here!!"

-

-

Edward banged his head repeatedly against the inside of the car door, annoying Jasper as his emotions seemingly overflowed, seeping out into the atmosphere of the car. Twitching, Jasper attempted to focus solely on the road ahead of him.

_"You're suffering... why?"_

Great, a concience... That was absolutely the last thing poor Edward needed at the moment. Groaning quietly, he hit his head again, feeling the pain accumulate on his forehead in satisfaction. Yes, that would drive the concience away.

_"You're being slightly emo."_

Suppressing a growl, he hit it once again. "Edward, you're going to leave a bruise on your forward," Jasper mumbled, narrowing his eyes in a failing attempt to focus once again.

_"Distracting yourself from emotional pain with physical pain, truly ingenius... but is it working?"_

'Shut up, I don't need your opinion.'

_"What's even making you do this? Possibly the girl?"_

What was the stupid thing that was bothering him? He had never heard of a concience being so... annoying? No... interactive might be the right description for it. Gah, he knew what this was... an Inner Self. D-mn it, of all the things he could come up against, this was his most formible opponent. This was the one who knew all the weaknesses that he had been denying all these years.

_"You never acted so weakly till now... Until you met this girl. No matter how beautiful, you've never been affected. So... she is special."_

'She is nothing special, I'm worried about Alice, she is my sister after all!'

_"Denial is hard apparently not only hard on the mind, but the body as well"_

His nuckles turned white as they clenched tightly into fists, the jeans he was wearing preventing his nails from digging into his own palm. Yes, he could practically see his Inner Self doing suggestive winks and such.

Why, oh why, was he cursed with such an all knowing mind?

-

-

Felix growled, boredom turning into a concentrated mass of frustration weighing down heavily upon his mind. "Damn бога оно This is a f-cking wild goose chase! I don't care what the f-ck you say bout some stupid 'death trail'! It's just a bunch of BS!"

Demetri sighed, turning down another alleyway. Even for him this got tiring, but at least he was completely aware of the fact that they were making progress. Corleon wasn't an extremely huge city, yet there were nooks and crannies of it that anyone could hide within, even the loud and obnoxious Cullen boy Emmett.

"You truly are an idiot..."

"F-ckshit!"

"With a vocabulary to match." Demetri sighed.

"Can't we at least stop for a short game or something?!"

Demetri stopped, looking back upon Felix who was trying to do a so called puppy dog pout, yet failing miserably as his face melted into one of a twitching, somewhat rabid feline. "What kind of game?"

A stupid grin spread quickly across Felix's face as he leaned forward, as if sharing confidential information with Demetri, five feet away. "Russian Roulette..."

Swiftly, Demetri turned on his heel, continuing back down the alleyway. "A horrible vocabulary with a mind to match..." he sighed once again, tiring of dealing with such a violent cretin. "Such a waste of space..."

-

-

Paul opened the door to the room that held the two 'prisoners', only to find it empty. A small muffled shriek caused his head to jolt upwards toward the ceiling so that he could clearly see the giant blob that was falling straight towards him. Bella's eyes snapped shut, biting her lip to prevent her from crying out again, as her forehead collided painfully with Paul's, sending them both downwards into the floor.

Alice hopped down from the ceiling, staring at the entangled mess that was Paul and Bella. "Such a klutz," she muttered lightly, a cheerful undertone not elluding it. Picking up Bella, she saw that Paul was definently efficently knocked out for a good two or so hours. "Perfect."

Grabbing Bella's hand, she directed them through the back hallways of the small station they were at, to a back window.

"Seriously... we're on the second story, how are we supposed to get down?!" Bella whispered, eyes constantly flickering over her shoulder to make sure nothing was going to eat them or something along those lines.

Giggling, Alice slid the window upwards. "Come on, that tree is so close even I can reach it..." To demonstrate her meaning, she reached out towards the tree, taking the larger part of the branch into her small palm and pulling herself upon it. Looking back, she reached out for Bella. Taking the offered hand, Bella felt herself being pulled onto the branch with her.

"So... now what?"

Alice looked around, smiling. "Well... we'll just have to see about that!"

For a moment, a shudder of fear traveled down Bella's spine at the thought of killing herself accidentally when attempting to perform whatever deeds Alice had in store. 'Yes, a most humiliating death... Death by klutziness.'

She fought back the urge to cry out of self pity.

-

-

Edward stared at Jasper apathetically as he put on a slightly nervous smile.

"See... well, ya know the way Alice thinks. She'll probably think that it's better to have the both of them split up, so yeah..."

The blank expression upon Edward's face didn't change once he heard the half hearted explanation. Rather, Jasper found the emerald orbs being narrowed towards him dangerously, and an aura of anger seeping off of the shaking bronze haired man.

'If they did split up, then Alice will be getting a piece of my mind.'

With a small huff, Edward nodded. "Fine."

-

-

She haphazardly threw her leg over the side of the semi brick fence, only to have it swing and hit her awaiting leg. Muffling a groan, Bella attempted in an ungraceful manner to slide herself down the fence to safety - well, as safe as the ground got. Yet, somehow, being the klutz she was, she managed to fall backwards and cause herself to plung head first towards the ground.

Her eyes widened as she clasped her arms around her head so that her forearms would take the brunt of the fall.

'Why me?'

Her body came to an aburpt stop as something enveloped it, her forearms resting on the ground. Wriggling around, wood pressed itself into her body.

'A barrel...' she thought as she attempted to glance around, but the only light was provided by the multiple small cracks and holes in the planks of wood. 'I'm stuck... in a _barrel_.'

Yes, she had finally reached an all time low point in her life. Maybe she could even create a world record for the worst, most unlikely place to get stuck in.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me..."

-

-

Embry poked Paul's still body as Jacob investigated the empty room. "We need to find them," he snarled maliciously, turning towards Embry.

"Is he dead?" Embry asked in an all too innocent way as he magically summoned up a stick to poke Paul with repetively. Jacob sighed, rubbing his temples momentarily before kicking the unconcious man. His body twitched in a way very reminescient of a seizure.

"No..."

"Oh..." Embry responded, taking out a sharpie from his back pocket.

_Our lives move at a fast pace, sometimes too fast to keep up with... Don't get blown away_


	21. Omake anyone?

Erm... Hi! So yeah... the next chapter... heh -is half way or so done with it-... -please don't kill me!!- about that... I've been a little busy lately -who am I kidding?- Okay, so, more like lazy...

Buuuut, I've come to tell you that I am indeed alive!! Heh, sorryz, I scared a few of you last time -.-''' but hey, I'm not dead... NOTHING CAN KILL ME!!! -FallenAngel-chan shoots me- X.X

Anywayz...

**CAN YOU SAY OMAKE?**

**O-MA-KE**

**How to awaken...**

**Jasper Hale**

Beep.

Beep.

Bounce.

Beep.

Beep.

Bounce.

Beep.

Beep.

BAM!

...ow...

His sapphire orbs opened, meeting another pair of onyx as the throbbing red bump on his head grew. She giggled, bouncing up and down before him as his eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Normally, he'd love to see her, but it was currently -he stole a momentary glance at the shining (a little too bright) numbers on the clocks face- 6:42. No... he took that back, 6:43 now.

Bounce.

She was always bubbly in the morning, it was annoying as hell.

Twitch.

He grabbed the top of the comforter, pulling it harshly up and over his head. A shrill shriek came from above him, slightly muffled by the heavy comforter, as the ground came out from under her, throwing her upwards.

Bounce. Bounce

Hey, they say the bigger you are, the harder you fall. She should consider herself lucky.

The mattress sank in certain areas, the areas seemingly moving closer and closer to him before he felt a sharp pain in his back. Before a second had passed, the pain returned.

Kick.

Kick.

With a grunt, she took her hands and pushed upon the side of his shoulder, trying to move him most likely.

Kick.

Kick.

Shove.

Kick.

Shove.

Kick.

Shove.

Shove.

Kick.

Kick.

Kick.

SHOVE!!!

With a quick, rolling movement he turned to face her. Grabbing her ankles, he pulled her lower half out from under her. Screaming loudly, probably awaking the entire household, she hit the mattress.

Once again: she's lucky.

Ooooooooh, and the blanket succeeds in protecting him from the evil glare of the devil fiancee that he would occasionally announce in a proud manner was his.

Huffing loudly, she punched the mattress with both hands simontaneously before storming out of the room.

Ah, sweet silence.

Wonderful peace...

Free at last!!

Give me liberty or give me dea---

The door slammed open, almost going through the adjacent wall from the sound of it. He groaned; it was Emmett.

Thundering footsteps sounded as Emmett stormed forward. The floorboards creaked as he sprung forward towards the bed.

Roll.

Bounce.

Yep, not even Nasa could beat this springy mattress.

Pounce.

Roll.

Bounce.

Pounce.

Roll.

Bang!

Oooh, that didn't sound good. Hopefully it wasn't head first; they all knew he was stupid enough already.

Enraged battle cry.

...Retarded battle cry, that is...

Pounce.

Grab.

Fling.

The air rushed past his face, whipping his messy blond locks around madly. Opening his eyes lazily, Jasper witnessed the doorframe fly by. Now the only thing in sight was a mess of something bronze that he was sure to run into momentarily.

BAM!!

Two deep groans.

Giggle.

D-mn it, he was up.


	22. Endless Hopelessness

**For all who are confused: THIS IS THE REAL CHAPTER TWENTY ONE!!!!!!!!! Heh.. the last one was an Omake (translation - bonus, extra), which in all means translates directly into 'a filler so you all won't kill me -cheesy grin-' and it seemed to work well XD**

**Anywayz, this chapter has been sitting here half written for a... while... after I got past the Aro part (my god, I wuv you Aro, you're so wonderfully easy to write) which was all inspired by L (Death Note), but yeah... I was just kinda stuck after that T.T So I did the usual thing I've been doing lately: open wordpad, open La Cosa Nostra 21, stare at the last paragraph written, type two words, backspace the two words into oblivion, minimize program, let it sit for two hours, close it because too many programs are opened and are bunching up. **

**BUUUUUT!!! This time, as I stared at it the lyrics of Holiday were being pounded in my ears by my precious new sansa mp3 -coughofftopiccough- soooooo INSPIRATION!!!! I'm not sure how but... I LOVE YOU GREENDAY!!! And then the next song that came on was the Gorillaz 19/2000 Soulchild Remix and it all just flowed from there, I love you two...!!!**

**I HOPE EVERYONE IS HAPPY WITH THIS CHAPTER, I ATTEMPTED TO INCORPORATE TO REQUESTS IN THE CHAPTER, theloserhobbs' request was filled though -wink-**

**Btw... I HAVE FOUND BARBIE GIRL IN DUTCH!!! I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW -swoons-**

**Translations: Aishiteru - ... (ain't going to tell you XP)**

_There's a monkey in the Jungle_

_Watching a Vapor Trail_

_Caught up in the conflict_

_Between his Brain and his Tail_

_19/2000 - Gorillaz_

Aro carefully stacked the two sugarcubes on top of each other, watching carefully for falling or crumbling pieces that would ruin it. Once he had positioned them correctly, he began to fiddle with a half and half mini cup. He placed it down a ways from the sugarcubes and took hold of both, slowly rocking them side to side in a fashion that moved them forward.

As they approached each other, one swung at the other, the latter barely dodging the oncoming attack. "Milkly Milk Milk Man you shall never defeat me, the great Sugardude!!"

"Milkly's not a word," Caius corrected, sipping his tea while Carlisle laughed lightly.

Ignoring the two, almost as if they didn't exist, Aro continued on.

"Mwhahahahahaha!! That is incorrect, for Milkly Milk Milk Man shall reign terror upon your peaceful little tea party!!" With precision, the bottom of Milkly Milk Milk Man's side came in contact with Sugardude, knocking his top half over. The sugarcube broke apart on contact with the wooden surface of the coffee table.

"Ha!! Evil shall reign from now on - coffee beats tea once again!"

Setting down his cup of tea, Caius nodded. "Akira is; he's a good kid."

"Really? Good as in truly good or as in good at conforming to the mafia's ideals?"

Carlisle chuckled lightly as Caius shrugged, looking briefly at Aro's performance. "It doesn't matter in the end, Yakuza will be fine... the one I'm worried about is the American mafia."

"Yes, the death of Marcus is going to be hard to deal with..."

"No, the American mafia has been hounded by the CIA constantly and forced to act upon a legal basis. They'll be fine," Aro said, head popping up. A single finger stuck out of his mouth, resting upon his sugar coated lips.

"Looks can be decieving."

-

-

_Learn from Yesterday_

_Live for Today _

_Hope for Tomorrow _

-

-

Loud footsteps echoed across the lightening alleyway as the sun rose towards the middle of the sky. They were uneven sounds, almost as if there were multiple people approaching in a careless manner. Bella wriggled within the confines of the barrel, trying to find an appropriate peep hole.

Questions began to form, flooding her mind. Would they help her? Notice her? Were they friendly? What if they were part of the mafia and were going to kill her and sell her body parts for a profit?!

But...

Why was she afraid of the mafia now?

More distressing questions entered her mind, taunting her in a way. What if they were kidnappers?

But she's already been kidnapped, three times now.

What if they were rapists?

James attempted that...

What if they tried to kill her?

Hadn't others been playing with her life for a while now?

Dangit, she always hated 'what if's...

-

-

Edward pushed past innocent bystanders as he hurried through the crowded streets. His feet hit the ground painfully hard, propelling him forward feet at a time. Really, he had no idea where he was going, he was just...

Hopeful.

-

-

"Look at what I found, boys." The large, not quite obese, man whistled, shaking the barallel once again. Within it, Bella cringed, knowing the outcome of this would not be good.

"A poor lost soul, no?" Another sneered, walking forward.

Bella kicked her legs as two large hands picked her up out of the barrel. She was abruptly dropped, facing three large men in their mid twenties. Slowly, a nervous smile drew her lips upward as her throat became starch dry. "H-hi."

"So," the first of the three said, leaning down so they were almost nose to nose. "What are you doing here, cutie?"

"No-n-nothing," she stuttered nervously, almost gasping for air at this point. Fear seemed to be overwhelming her unlike ever before.

A loud crash stopped him from continuing, rather making him whip around to stare at the other two large men lying upon the ground.

Emerald eyes flickered in the sunlight, glaring intently at the large man.

"What's this? Perhaps a hopeful knight in rusty armor?"

Bella gasped dryly, still having trouble breathing. "Edward," she mouthed, no sound coming out.

"What? Challenging me?" The man sneered, shaking a fist in front of him as if it was threatening the boy.

With a grin cracking on Edward's face, he dashed across the yard and a half that seperated them, quickly elbowing him in the stomach. Spinning, a kick quickly followed up, knocking the man backwards slightly. Boy, he was almost as solid as Emmett.

The man quickly retaliated with a punch of his own. Edward's body moved deftly, barely dodging the attack. His raised fists quickly went in, once after another. They connected forcefully, the other man landing harshly on his rear end, sending painful vibrations through his body. Taking advantage of the moment, Edward did a quick roundhouse kick to his head.

A sharp, overwhelmingly powerful jolt was sent through his head. His vision doubled and blurred back together, the edges becoming a hazy white. Quickly, the hazy white leapt from the corners to take over his entire field of vision.

Bella stared wide eyed at the now unconscience man, then looked to Edward, who's knuckles where bleeding lightly. "Y-you...!"

He shook his head, bending down on one knee to get eye level with her. Brushing stray hairs out of her face, a somewhat lopsided, almost crooked, grin found its way to his face. She froze, completely awestruck by his beauty.

"Don't worry, you're safe and that's all that matters..."

A small grin spread across her face. "Ah, how do you say 'I missed you' in japanese?"

He blinked, before a mischievous grin spread across his face. With the speed of a diving eagle, he swooped down, smashing their soft lips together. Every muscle in her body locked in place as she stared with incredelous eyes upon him. They stayed like that for a few moments, neither of them moving. As her body began to relax and melt into the kiss, she noticed how peaceful he looked, almost as if... he was asleep again.

Pulling back, their lips parted in a painfully slow manner, yet at the same time all too quick. That awestruck expression never left her face as her lips remained parted and a warm, bright pink blush fanned across her cheeks. "Aishiteru."

"Aishiteru."

It took her a few moments to even register the words, before she sat there wondering the heck he was talking about. "Huh?"

"I miss you... Aishiteru."

That mischievous grin was back, a certain light making his emerald orbs shine magnificiently. The blush only spread to her ears and down her neck at this point, making her resemble a tomato.

-

-

Alice skipped gracefully down the crowded market streets, venders crying out to her and the other citizens, trying to woo them into coming closer, possibly to buy their goods. Soon, a blond head became visible over most of the others, and her skip increased slightly.

Without a second thought, she ran directly into Jasper, grasping him securely to her body. "Hey," she murmured lightly, "Long time no see..."

His arms wrapped around her, picking up her lithe body to carry her back to the car where they would hopefully meet the other two. "Yeah, missed you."

-

-

Paul grinned, eyes flickering momentarily between the hesistant others behind him and the two comrades before him.

"Hey, look! We caught some f-cking prey, this better be d-mn good!"

The grin upon Paul's face widened with the feline like one's sentence. "Yeah, we'll have a d-mn good time sendin' ya to hell."

Demetri sighed as a catlike smile etched its way onto Felix's face. "We'll see 'bout that, now won't we?"

_The Death Trail ends here, one side must fall... _


	23. Depthless Fire

**OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG OMFG**

**OMGWTFBBQCRAP!!!**

**I... i... i... I-I just realized this is...**

**-sniffles-**

**...the last chapter...**

**T.T**

_Please give me this dream,_

_Please give me a little more,_

_Somebody will open them again,_

_The Gates of Heaven_

_Gates of Heaven - Do As Infinity_

_**This chapter is dedicated to Cheetah Eyes**_

_**Thank you for your support and help!**_

Jasper plopped Alice down on the hood of the shining silver car, waiting for the other two to return. Knowing it might be a while, he simply rested his head on Alice's shoulder and stared off into space behind her, arms wrapped securely around her tiny waist.

She, in return, rested her own head on his shoulder, buried her face in his neck, and waited silently.

-

-

They walked silently, awkwardly, in the direction Edward had designated. The blush still resided upon Bella's cheeks, burning them fiercely.

A slightly unnervingly proud smile rested upon Edward's lips as they continued on. His head was also held seemingly higher then usual.

Her eyes flickered upwards, catching a glimpse of the sly smirk that had formed upon his face slowly slip into an only slightly satisfied smile. They quickly focused on her feet, knowing full well that her blush wasn't fading a bit and around the next corner or so was would be Alice and Jasper.

What was revealed on the other side of the building was two figures idly standing -or more like one was hunched over and onto the other's sitting form- next to a shining silver car.

Jasper disentangled himself from Alice, turning to grin at the two. Quickly, the blush subsided from Bella's face and a calm feeling absorbed her.

"Well, let's go!!" Alice cheered, hopping up and seemingly popping out of no where from behind Jasper. A bubbly grin had spread across her entire face.

-

-

Caius stood up, looking over towards a bored Aro. "I guess now would be an apporiate time to prepare?"

Aro blinked lazily, an innocent look of pure curiousity crossing his face. "For what?"

"Combinazione," Carlisle answered.

-

-

As Paul and Felix stared each other down, sadistic grins twisting onto both faces, and, in almost slow motion, they got into stances to shoot.

Quicker then both of them was Demetri, almost forgotten by everyone but Felix.

He drew his gun that was hidden between the folds of unnaturally dark clothing, moving it upwards to aim and pulling the trigger almost instantly. Felix instinctively moved to the side away from Demetri as Paul fell, blood splattering across the ground.

Demetri lazily pulled the trigger twice more as Felix shot wildly at the scrambling police force. Quil fell backwards to the ground, blood seeping onto the cement and forever staining it as the crimson liquid was absorded. Jared fell over Quil's body, Sam also going down behind him.

Jake shot his own gun, grazing Felix's shoulder and tearing through the edge of his clothes. Demetri's gun aimed and shot, the bullet hitting him directly in the chest. Spluttering backwards, Jake fell downwards, holding onto his chest tightly.

Grinning wildly, Felix placed the gun against Embry's forehead. He was the last one alive and he sat there pitifully, clutching his shoulder as blood continued to seep out between his fingers. Yet, to keep his pride as a man, Embry glared up viciously at Felix as he would until the very end.

"Do you know why I carry a revolver?" Felix inquired as Demetri placed his gun back and retrieved a cellphone instead.

"No..."

"I have one bullet left," Felix replied, spinning the cylinder, "Let's play Russian Rullet..."

Embry's eyes widened as the trigger was pulled, a loud bang resounding through the alley. His form slumped, collasping onto itself and a dark stain consumed part of his pants as Felix snickered. "Lucky b-st-rd..."

"Leave him, I doubt he will bleed to death so he can spread the terror of La Cosa Nostra through the police force."

Felix shrugged, picking up Embry's gun and pocketing it as Demetri flipped open the glistening black cellphone, dialing a phone number.

-

-

Rosalie slouched against the worn leather couch, flicking open the top of a lighter and watching a flame dance above her thumb which kept it alive. In seconds though, she popped the lid back on while sliding her thumb out of the way expertly. Before a minute had passed, she repeated this idle movement several times, inticed by the flickering beauty that could easily kill.

Emmett and Carlisle rummaged around throughout several rooms, running back and forth in front and behind her. Mentions of 'portraits' and 'saints' were interchanged between the two along with some semi-pointless curses.

Esme, all the while, leaned on the back of the couch next to Rosalie. Dangling gently from her fingers was a cellphone that caught Rosalie's eye, making her focus on it.

"Aren't you going to call them?"

Esme blinked, focusing on Rosalie. "Oh, yes. I knew there was something I was forgetting! Thank you for reminding me dear."

Rosalie nodded as Esme flipped open the cellphone, turning her attention back to the lighter.

-

-

Renee stared determinedly at the food on the stove before her. After comprehending Phil's almost silent complaint, she had decided she would just suck it up and get over it! Her fists clenched before her chest, a wooden spoon sticking out of one her hands.

'Yes!' she thought to herself, nodding. 'I shall be as happy and productive as I can!!'

"Honey...?"

Blinking curiously, Renee turned around to see Phil in the doorway, holding onto the cordless phone. Rather uneasily, he eyed the pot of who know's what on the stove that appeared to be food -- but then again, could something like that really be food?

"Yes?"

"A-ah... phone for you..." he murmured, eyes still locked on the concoction.

His arm raised itself upwards, extending the phone out for her.

'Should I have really told her to cheer up?' Phil asked himself uneasily. 'Is she going to make me eat that?'

"Renee?" A deep voice inquired from the other side of the phone line, making her smile. "Oh, hello Billy! It's been a while, how are you?"

"They're dead, they're all dead Renee. Only Embry's left..."

Her eyes widened, tears quickly forming at the edges of her eyes. "Wh-what?"

Phil's attention shifted restlessly to her as her voice broke.

"Embry, he's the only one left and he's in intensive care at the hospital. I'm sorry, but we can't..."

"Oh my god..." Renee whispered, eyes wide as the phone slid out of her hand. Phil enveloped her in a hug as the object hit the white tile with a dull thud.

_We can't go after her anymore. She's lost. _

-

-

Jasper's phone rang, catching both Edward and Jasper's attention. "Answer it," Edward immediately demanded.

Nodding, the blonde instantly flipped the phone open. "Hello?"

Edward's attention warily shifted between the road and Jasper every few moments, indicating silently that he wished to know what was being said.

"Hi Esme!"

A moment's pause before Edward could be informed more.

"Preparation for Combinazoine?"

Instantly, Edward's eyes flashed dangerously. "What?!" he snarled.

-

-

As the semiconversation between Jasper and Edward started, Bella turned to Alice. "Aishiteru," she murmured softly, a small smile resting peacefully upon her face.

Instantenously, a gigantic, overly cheerful grin broke out on Alice's face.

"Where'd you learn that?"

Bella blinked, slightly unsure of her reaction. "Edward told me it... It means 'I missed you', no?"

Alice merely giggled, pulling the girl into a hug. "Silly," she whispered quietly into the girl's ear so that the two in the front couldn't hear her, "It means 'I love you'."

Bella's eyes widened, wondering if she heard right.

-

-

Aro slipped into a currently abandoned hall of the Cullen household as everyone scuttled by franctically in the other corridors. Flipping open the phone, he spoke into it harshly after hearing it click in recognition of an answering.

"Report." His voice was laced with icy coldness, his usual cheerfullness melting away from his very existance.

"They're dead."

"Good."

As the phone was flipped closed and slipped harshly into a random, awaiting pocket, the cold glare softened. Quickly, a childish look took over his face, the cheerful grin renewing its lost territory.

-

-

The door slammed sharply, rocking the car slightly from the harsh impact.

Edward's face waas stoic, only hints of anger showing through the almost perfectly placed mask. Jasper scrambled out of the car after him, hoping to stop an oncoming rampage.

Blinking, Bella came out of the car simultaneously with Alice. Instantly, a cheerful grin spread across Alice's face at Bella's slow, unsure pace. "What?"

"Combainazoine!!" she cheered, making Bella obtain an even more confused look. "Trust me!"

She nodded slowly, somewhat hesitantly, and followed the skipping Alice into the large household.

-

-

Rosalie smirked as the doorway to the living room was assaulted by an angry fist.

Jasper gaped slightly at the hole before cringing when the anger was turned to the occupants of the room before them.

"It was Aro's idea, but Caius and Carlisle were more then happy to follow through," Rosalie announced with a sickeningly sweet tone that barely hid her sneer.

Edward's sharp emerald eyes darted to them, an icy glare attempting to cut straight through them. A small whimper came from Jasper as he took a step back.

Loud clapping and jeering came from down the hallway that Edward and Jasper were half in, interrupting Edward's oncoming rant.

Aro appeared soon, dragging Bella in one hand while Alice skipped to keep up.

"Isn't this glorious, Edward?"

Only a snarl came from Edward in reply, making Aro grin wider.

"What's going on?" Bella mumbled, still confused over the climbing tension.

"Combinazione," Rosalie drawled, once again flipping open the lighter to see the small, orange light source flicker magnificiently. "In other words," the lighter snapped shut harshly and their eyes connected, liquid sapphire meeting curious chestnut. "Initiation to La Cosa Nostra."

Bella gaped disbelievingly, not knowing whether or not to trust Rosalie. Another snarl from Edward confirmed that this was not something he wanted, but it was the truth, nonetheless.

"Edward," Carlisle spoke in a somewhat stern tone, "if she stays a hostage then we'll eventually have to kill her, and we can't let her go because she knows too much."

Slowly, Edward looked down at Bella, his eyes pleading silently for an excuse, even a refusal, just anything to get out of this situation. Instead, he only saw determination in her eyes, shining brightly.

'He said he loves me, therefore I should try as hard as I can to stay with him!'

His resolve melted slowly as he saw how much she wanted this. "Fine," he muttered, looking away. Alice squealed, grabbing Aro and dancing happily with him.

Rosalie stood, her precious face twisted menacingly into a scowl. Throwing the lighter at Caius, she stormed out of the room. Caius simply caught it in between his long fingers and indicated for everyone to gather in the middle of the room.

Once they were in a large circle, Aro opposite Bella, Emmett brought out a medium sized potrait of a saint. Bella blinked, almost positive she had seen a similar - if not the exact same - portrait in one of the hallways near Edward's room, formerly encased within a beautifull sparkling and intrically engraved gold frame.

"Bella," Aro spoke, a slightly more serious look coming upon his face, "this House is meant to protect the weak against the abuse of the powerful."

She blinked. 'Really now?' was all she thought.

Edward grudgingly handed over a needle to Aro, who held out his hand to Bella and motioned Emmett to hold out the portrait. Bella placed her hand in Aro's gently, the painting hanging below.

"Bella... do you really want to go through with this?" Edward asked, eyeing her for a single waver in her courage.

Quickly, she nodded in response.

"Even though this is going to be painful?"

Nodding once again, she turned her attention to Aro's hand that held her's gently. To tell the truth, she didn't know what this really entailed, but she was going to conquer any and all pain that kept her from being with Edward!

Aro also nodded, looking intently at Bella. "It is indeed painful, but don't worry."

She smiled and he took a deep breath. "Repeat after me; this House..."

"This House..." "Is meant to protect the weak..."

"Is meant to protect the weak..."

"Against the abuse of the powerful."

"...Against the abuse of the powerful..." her voice turned into a soft murmur, unsure of what was going to happen next.

Slowly, Aro brought out the needle. Stretching out her hand, he took a single finger and poked it precisely with the sharp metal. Cringing slightly, she watched, somewhat fascinated as the blood gathered around the needle ever so slowly before sliding down her finger and lightly dropping onto the saint's face.

As Aro transferred the painting into Bella hand, he held his own hand out to Caius. Grinning, Caius slapped the lighter casually into Aro's hand.

"I will remain faithful to principles of Cosa Nostra..."

"I will remain faithful... to the principles... of Cosa Nostra..." she murmured, watching intently as Aro lit the corner of the painting farthest away from her hand.

"Or may my flesh burn like this saint if I fail to keep this oath."

Heat emitted from the wood, making her pull her hand that rested inches above the middle of the portrait to the corner adjacent to the one that her other hand possessed.

"Or may my flesh burn," she cringed slightly as the first of the fire closed in on one of her hands, resisting the urge to yelp. "...like this saint if I fail to... keep my oath..."

Edward growled slightly, watching as she quickly juggled the painting from hand to hand to keep herself from getting her hands burned too badly.

The glowing orange spread across the canvas, eating away at its surface and only leaving charred ashes in its wake.

Constantly it licked at her exposed fingers, but it quickly died as the canvas became increasingly smaller. Once both the painting and fire was gone, Bella just stood there, staring at her hands.

A huge grin spread across Aro's face, "Com-bin-ato!" he cheered, delighted.

Looking up, Bella's eyes met Edward's and slowly he nodded. "Welcome... to the family."

_All stories have a beginning _

_And all stories have an end _

_Just when one story ends _

_Another begins _

_It's the neverending cycle which is life... _


	24. Omake Time

**Yeah... the bonus story can't happen anymore. eclipse slayed, mangled and reformed my opinions of every character... except the volturi and emmett XD and alice a bit... nah, alice seems cooler now XD but yeah... I can't work with wha I left for myself at the end of the story T.T so I'll just do small omakes like this!**

**: Corleon, Sicily :**

**: Modern Day : **

Bella rolled over in the bed. Something was bothering her, specifically the odd position of her leg which was incapable of moving. Something large and heavy was holding it down.

She jerked her leg, attempting to free it, only to find the thing enclosed upon her leg had tightened its hold. Jerking it again only held the same result.

Groaning in annoyance, she groggily opened her eyes. What she found was quite shocking, to say the least. There. attached to her precious, yet immobilized leg was Edward Cullen, curled up around it and rubbing his cheek against said limb.

She could only stare dumbfounded, not truly sure if what she was seeing was truly real. His cheeks were slightly flushed and a grin was beared happily upon his face as he continued to rub his cheek against her leg.

Eventually, she snapped out of her dazed amazement, realizing Edward had always been odd when asleep. Closing her eyes, she giggled slightly before turning into a more comfortable postion to sleep in with him attached to her leg.


	25. Bleeeeeeeh

**Was going to be chapter three of the bonus story (which I had come up with the ingenius title of 'Dark Side of the Moon' -sniffles- evil Stephenie meyer T.T) You catch a glimpse of an OC that was going to be introduced within the storyline, I was going to edit it out, but it made me feel less comfortable with the composition of the chapter (please don't ask bout the location he's in, it's a long winded explaination .)**

**Anywayz, the chapter was heavily influenced by both DNAngel and Black Cat (not sure if you can tell the DNAngel part -sweatdrop-)**

**A note to those who were wondering, someone corrected me on 'Aishiteru' in La Cosa Nostra. In reality, that isn't an actual word (as far as I've found) though in fangirl japanese it does mean 'I love you' (oh, how fangirls spite us once again -.-). There is no real way to say 'I love you' in japanese (which would explain quite a bit).**

_Sometimes..._

_I just stand there and wonder._

_Is any of this really..._

_real?_

_**Am I real?**_

Edward leaned against the doorframe, watching the man shout at him. None of the words really registered. Only the feeling of the trigger touching the pad of his finger truly broke through the haze over his mind.

"So you won't pay protection?" he asked simply, pushing away from the wall.

"No! I refuse to be belittled any longer! This foolishness, obeying your every wish and command!! Paying you for being criminals!!!"

"Daddy, stop this stupidity!! Someone's going t--"

His daughter's voice was cut off as she fell backwards, blood staining the floor and wall behind her. The man stared wide eyed at his daughter's limp body before becoming enraged.

He charged across the room at Edward, fist raised and a shrill battle cry tearing the sudden painful silence to pieces.

Cold emerald eyes stared apathetically upon him before he swiftly aimed the gun once again. The bullet tore through his arm, making him fall to the ground, clutching it desperately.

"H-how could you...?!"

"This is what the protection money was for..."

"You monster!!"

Edward simply turned his back on them, walking away from the mess.

-

-

**:Deijima Island:**

**:Twelve Years Prior:**

The gun dropped to the floor in a clatter, making Heidi's eyes narrow. "C'mon kid, that's pathetic!"

Akira didn't respond. Instead, he stared at his hands.They shook harshly, a pain jolting through both wrists.

Standing over him, she noticed his dilemna and smirked. "Weak wrists? Better fix that, tomorrow we'll start off with 100 pushups, no breaks." Her gaze shifted to the target, making her frown. Not a single bullet hit it's mark. "Boy, you suck"

"Shut up!"

Seemingly complying with him, she silently bent down and picked up the gun. Reloading, she held it out, slowly pulling the trigger.

He could only watch in awe as the bullet hit the bullseye, a clean hole made in the paper.

"H-how?"

"And that is why I'm your trainer and can say whatever the hell I want to you" she spoke arrogantly, bopping him on the head lightly with the gun.

"C'mon, 'nough training for now. Oh! Milk, let's get some milk in ya!!"

-

-

**:Corleon, Sicily:**

**:Modern Day:**

Bella exited from her shared bedroom, only to run straight into a hard surface.. Bouncing backwards, she fell, only to be caught in a strong pair of arms holding her tight.

"I love you"

Something was off. Despite that, she put on her sweetest smile. "I love you too, Edward"

Pulling back slightly, she could now see the sorrow within his eyes. "Why?" he murmured so softly that she briefly had to wonder if he was going to cry. "I'm a monster..."

"No, you're n--"

"I killed a person today

She froze, stiffening in his arms slightly. "I'm a monster"

Slowly, her eyes softened and a wisp of a smile like no other appeared upon her face. Cupping his cheeks, she forced him to make eye contact with him.

"Because behind that monster behind that monster exterior is a broken boy just looking for love"

-

-

_Love?_

_What is that?_

_**It's a sin**_

_Why?_

_**Because it brings nothing but despair**_

-

-

"And I will give you that love"

_Only fairytales have a happy ending_


	26. Bloodied Memories

**For the crazy fifty one of you that still have this story on watch**

**Don't ask wha brought this on XD;**

Bella had a tendency to wander into Rosalie's room when Edward was away. It was odd, really. Rosalie, out of all the adopted and mismatched siblings and lovers, had an aversion to Bella and made it plainly clear. Maybe that was what drove Bella in there time after time of failure; the need to be accepted by all.

Though, for Rosalie, it was becoming increasingly clear that the deemed 'brat' was not necessarily looking for acceptance. Nor was she there for her first assumption of just looking for someone to bother. Rather, Bella seemed to be trying to understand some of her odd placed habits.

Rosalie finished touching up her makeup, carefully putting on the blazing red lipstick all the while completely aware of the chocolate orbs boring into her back.

"You put on makeup to look pretty for Emmett?"

A sigh.

"Yes," she murmured, frowning at the vibrant lipstick. Quickly, her hand reached out for the kleenex box, ripping the tissue paper out all but gently.

"But... you're beautiful enough as it is..." she paused, watching Rosalie smear away the red lipstick in a slightly desperate manner. Her tone changed to a flat, yet curious one. "And you put that lipstick on everyday, before removing it"

"You wouldn't know that if you sat there watching me"

Bella brought her knees up to rest her chin upon while wrapping her arms loosely around them. "Why do you do that? If you don't like it, why repeat the process day after day?"

"Because I hope day after day it won't bring the images back," Rosalie muttered, sighing. Her pampered hand riffled through the messy makeup drawer, looking for a different colored lipstick. A smear of red caught her eye, making her whole body freeze in its movement. Slowly, turning her hand, she stared. The red smear of lipstick seemed to spread across her hand, becoming a shimmering crimson liquid.

A scream cut through her conscience, quickly followed by a whimpered plea. A gunshot--

"Rosalie? Are you alright? You look pale..."

Rosalie's eyes slowly closed as she attempted to regulate her breathing. "Fine... I'm fine" Harshly, she began wiping off the smeared lipstick from her hand. "Bella, never go out on the field"

Blinking in innocent confusion, a soft smile came across Bella's features. Understanding seemed to be reached within the confines of her mind.

"Sure"


End file.
